What makes a good Demoman? Well honestly, skill. Where a class like Sniper requires aim, a class like Engineer requires game sense, and a class like Scout requires mechanical skill, Demoman can be all three at once. This can make him incredibly overwhelming to play if you're unfamiliar with his toolset, one of the most unique in gaming.
That said, for all the various skills required to play him, knowing the basics of his arsenal and mechanics goes a long way. While there are too many ways to play him to count on even three sets of hands, I’m going to go over three of the easiest to learn.
1) Demoknight
The term “subclass” is used when a specific loadout for a class effectively changes their entire playstyle. In the case of some classes, this means maximizing effectiveness, but for the Demoknight subclass, it locks you fully into the roll. If you want to play as Demoknight, you're turning your back on his high-power explosive weapons.
Despite some downsides, Demoknight benefits from not having to rely on projectile aim, meaning that you can focus on movement and game sense. Though it’s not quite easy to learn, it is simple.
Loadout:
- Ali Baba's Wee Booties (Or Bootlegger): When paired with a shield, these boots grant an additional 25 health, increased move speed, and buffs to the shield charge (see below). Perfect as well for utilizing your melee to its fullest.
- The Splendid Screen: There’s a total of three shields in the game and of them, the Splendid Screen is the best offensively. The charge that increases your melee damage the longer the charge also deals considerable impact damage on collision and recharges extremely fast. That’s on top of passive damage resistance to explosives and fire.
- The Eyelander: Though it reduces your base health by 25, for every kill, you get increased move speed, health, and charge damage which stacks up to five times. Though you lose your bonus upon death so be careful!
Playstyle:
- The hard counter to Demoknight is Heavy, the one class you should almost always stay away from. The Engineer’s sentry gun should also be avoided and never attack Pyro’s head-on, always try to ambush them. Everyone else is fair game.
- While the charge provides a massive offensive boost, it’s just as useful to escape deadly scenarios. Because the Eyelander’s bonus resets on death, the most important thing in every life is staying alive.
- The speed boost of the Eyelander maxes at four kills. At this point, you can far more easily get into riskier situations and live, but I still advise caution because of the heavy price of death.
2) Hybrid Knight
While it may sound similar to Demoknight, this version of Hybrid Knight is played entirely differently. Unlike Hybrid Knight, you replace the Boots with a Grenade Launcher, throwing aim into the equation and making melee mostly non-viable. You might wonder “Why would anyone want to use that”?
The reason why is that while this loadout demands better aim from the player, it conducts itself at a low risk. Using this loadout it’s easy to both tank a lot of damage without dying and run away with ease when things get dire. This is the true training wheels of the Demoman’s peak performance.
Loadout:
- The Loch and Load: Thanks to an increased projectile speed, the Loch and Load is easier to hit than stock and makes direct hits mandatory because its projectiles disappear if they don’t hit the enemy. Also highly effective on the Engineer’s buildings and at range.
- The Chargin Targe. The weakest shield offensively due to its slow charge recharge rate, but the best defensively thanks to a massive damage resistance to explosives and fire.
- The Bottle: It’s a stock melee weapon that behaves like all others with a standard swing speed and 65 damage a hit
Playstyle:
- What makes the Loch and Load perfect for newcomers is that it makes direct hits mandatory, but easier to pull off. Additionally, it allows the Demoman to destroy buildings without the Stickybomb Launcher which is usually the go-too.
- While the Chargin Targe isn’t very good for melee use, it’s perfect as an escape tool paired with the high damage resistance. Thus the Loch and Load is made even less punishing
- Any melee weapon can be used and the loadout is still viable (except for the Persian Persuader). The Bottle is recommended however due to its fast swing speed and reliable damage with no passive downsides.
3) Oldschool
The stock Demoman was hands-down the most overpowered class in the game when Team Fortress 2 launched. Despite many nerfs preventing him from easily controlling every game, to this day he has the best raw firepower bar none. Having not just one, but two of the best weapons in the game in any situation is a feat none of the other classes in the game can boast. Though more punishing than the former two, if you’ve mastered the Grenade Launcher, you can learn to use the Stickybomb Launcher with minimal risk.
Loadout:
- The Grenade Launcher: Each of its four grenades deals 100 damage on impact and less if they collide with any surface, after which they’ll explode in a few seconds. It's a weapon as powerful as the person using it.
- The Stickybomb Launcher: The power potential of this weapon is insane, the StickyBombs fired can be even more devastating than the Grenade Launcher and after 0.8 seconds they can be detonated whenever the Demoman pleases. That’s on top of having eight bombs in a clip
- The Bottle: 65 damage a hit and a quick deploy speed.
Playstyle:
- Though they excel in traps, Stickybombs are just as good if not better used offensively. Be sure to use them mostly in medium range. Additionally, holding down the right mouse button detonates the bombs the moment they’re armed.
- Sticky bombs are highly effective at medium range, but if the enemy crosses the medium range line, pull out the Grenade Launcher. You can almost think of it as a secondary weapon for the Demoman.
- If the enemy ever gets really close, jump before you shoot them with a grenade. The explosion will send you flying backward, dealing damage, but also allowing you to escape.
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