[OPTIMAL DPS] + Team Comps
Some recommendations on weapons that can push overall team damage higher and reliably kill bosses faster.
Last updated
Some recommendations on weapons that can push overall team damage higher and reliably kill bosses faster.
Last updated
Some maps will have bosses scaled to the point where they will kill you always before you can kill them. Times like these are for when you go all-in on the damage. The top 4 damaging classes that have the most consistency are Heavy, Engineer, Spy, and Scout, though all of the others are brought up here for comparison between one another.
In most cases, these weapons provide the easiest use to squeeze out that higher end spectrum of DPS (without learning a weird gimmick or niche to the weapon that might otherwise lower your DPS for not using it the proper way or get you killed.)
Scouts can use the Scattergun [170 DPS] (or Shortstop [160 DPS] if full clip reload is hard to focus; during lasers...)
Soldiers can use the Direct Hit [191 DPS] (or choice of Shotgun if bullet-based or hard to land hits.)
Demomen can use the Iron Bomber [159 DPS] or Grenade Launcher [159 DPS.]
Heavies can use the Minigun [320 DPS.]
Engineers will want the Frontier Justice [190 DPS.]
Medics will want the Syringe Gun [182 DPS.]
Snipers can use either the SMG [170 DPS] or Cleaner's Carbine [170 DPS.]
Spies will want to have the Revolver [171 DPS.]
Many of these weapons stray into the territory of having a major negative downside; high risk high reward type weapons that in the right hands, can really push that extra chunk of DPS needed before timing out on a boss or having the team wipe to a specific attack.
Attached to most of these suggestions are dumbed down descriptive notes that explain why the weapon might be harder for the average person to pick up on the fly when seeking the most optimal damage-dealing methods under their mechanics.
Scouts can use the Force-A-Nature [200 DPS]
Large spread, movement de-buff and vulnerability on user for holding out.
Soldiers can use the Rocket Jumper [200 DPS]
Weapon may kill user via splash, nearly impossible to hit moving targets with, insanely vulnerable on defenses with this out.
Demomen can use the Loose Cannon [192 DPS]
User may cause self-damage via overcharging shot during bosses that don't allow healing. Can allow demoman to damage bosses that pills might normally bounce off, via timed splash damage.
Heavies can use the Brass Beast [380 DPS]
User must hard commit to rev-ups on defense, risky to deploy if bosses can push or pull you off arena.
Snipers can use the Machina [300 DPS]
User must commit to a full scope-in for 5 second intervals; suspectible to many boss attacks like Brass Beast is.
Spies can use the Enforcer [191 DPS]
User must repeatedly fully equip a disguise between firing shots for efficient DPS output; may lead to poor DPS if timing isn't precise.
Note: 64 players has changed a lot about TF2 ZE's flow in terms of team comps - but everything here is still relevant in terms of what you'll want in a team; albeit just think of it as inflated, higher numbers now. Heavies and Engineers are still capped to (8) total slots.
Just like in regular TF2, a good team composition is necessary to beat the other team or, in this case, the maps themselves. Having a team of Snipers for something like Dustbowl or 2fort never bodes well. Here it is... actually decent? Here are some things to consider regarding the number of classes in a team; some may be expected, and some may be surprising.
You generally want max (8) Heavies
A couple healing sources (3-4) from Medics and Engineers are helpful; Concheror and Mad Milk can work just as well.
A few (2-3) Pyros for stalling is very helpful.
A few (2-3) dedicated Spy and Scout triggerers is fine.
Really only need a few (2-3) specialist classes (e.g. Soldier, Demoman, Sniper, Spy) for certain niches like stunning or killing zombies and other various supports.
Remaining slots should try to fill the above from top to bottom.
For almost all maps, this type of team will work well. The first class you might want to stack is Heavies. You'll always want Heavies for their high DPS, survivability, and high rate of fire. Aside from that, a few triggerers like Scouts or Spies can help rush things along.
Sources of healing are crucial to deal with Mutation spam, so Medics and Engineers are very helpful for that role. For safety, a few Pyros can stall zombies when falling back with the addition of a couple Demos to further bolster the stall. A pair of Soldiers with Concheror can be extremely useful so you can consistently get buffed by the Concheror's effects; so long as they're chaining it one after another.
Sniper is the best class, not the bias of one of the original writers of this guide. Totally not. Not even a class cap can restrict their power, allowing as many Snipers as you want on the team. If zombies were to spawn with 50k HP and you had 27 Snipers, it'll take roughly two headshots from each Sniper to shut them down. If they can't aim, well, wait for one of your good Snipers to stun them so that the rest can gang up on them while they can't move. Even if they can't headshot, Cleaner's Carbine is a good choice for pushing encroaching zombies back. And what about healing? Who needs it.
Leading into the next pages here with this one; unlike in CS ZE, TF2 ZE has classes that each have their unique strengths and weakness. Unfortunately, some classes are much stronger in power level compared to the other classes. This makes stacking certain stronger classes over other weaker classes more beneficial. In this next segment, classes are labelled under how Vanilla TF2 categorizes each class;
Scout Soldier Pyro in Offense
Demoman Heavy Engineer in Defense
Medic Sniper Spy in Support
