Heavy Primaries

Heavy Primary Options

Minigun

Attributes
Weapon Spread: 25:1
+25% Damage vs Players
-6% Damage Penalty

[Timings]

Attack Interval: 0.105

TEC: 91.923 seconds

Full Reload Time: 17.5 seconds

Damage [Func_Physbox]

Base Damage: 33.66 per shot

Sustained DPS: 268.569 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns!): 320.571 DPS

Damage [Func_Breakable]

Base Damage: 16 per shot

Sustained DPS: 127.661 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns): 152.38 DPS

The stock Minigun is probably the most reliable primary for Heavy in base TF2. It doesn't have any gimmicks not featured on other miniguns, and it is simple to use for shredding enemies.

It works the same in Zombie Escape as a high-damage, high-defensive option without much downside. One of the highest damage range among all weapons and it is even supplemented with a damage bonus to players to compensate for the lost defensive potential from having a damage penalty.

One should not underestimate just how strong the stock Minigun is compared to the other modified miniguns - It has the second-longest TEC (Time to Empty Clip) time of ~91 seconds, with the server's ammo regeneration of ~8 ammo/s active. This means that Heavies using this weapon can more than reliably hold off a majority of defenses without the support of a dispenser anywhere. Not only that, but miniguns have some of the fastest fire rates among all weapons.

Until something concrete is decided to knock it down a peg in some regard, the miniguns will always remain great options in carrying a team.

Brass Beast

Attributes
Weapon Spread: 25:1
+10% Faster Firing Speed
-33% Damage Resistance when below 50% Health and Spun Up
+25% Damage vs Players
-6% Damage Penalty
-50% Slower Spin Up Time
-60% Slower Move Speed when Deployed

[Timings]

Attack Interval: 0.09

TEC: 45.001 seconds

Full Reload Time: 17.5 seconds

Damage [Func_Physbox]

Base Damage: 34.2 per shot

Sustained DPS: 272.081 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns!): 380 DPS

Damage [Func_Breakable]

Base Damage: 17 per shot

Sustained DPS: 135.244 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns): 188.888 DPS

The Brass Beast in base TF2 is usually considered a powerful but unwieldy pick for Heavies. It offers the highest damage output and defensive potential, but the increased time needed to spin up and greatly lessened movement speed while spun up make it less viable for hyper-offensive playstyles.

In Zombie Escape, it plays the same role, albeit with greater emphasis on the drawbacks as gameplay requires players to rapidly reposition. For the majority of cases, this makes it dangerous to use while dodging hazards or retreating from defenses, yet worthwhile for teams needing to squeeze out maximum DPS. It is a high-risk, high-reward weapon that is useful for players who understand the map and the flow of a defense.

As a small compensation, the Brass Beast’s damage resistance when spun up at half health or lower has been raised to 33% from its default value of 20%. This makes it somewhat less punishing to run during boss fights or when assaulted by multiple mutations during defenses.

Natascha

Attributes
Weapon Spread: 20:1
+25% Faster Firing Speed
+50% Bullets per Shot
-20% Damage Resistance when below 50% Health and Spun Up
+25% Damage vs Players
-59.7% Damage Penalty
-25% Less Accurate
-30% Slower Spin Up Time
Sets weapon mode #1.0 (Hidden)

[Timings]

Attack Interval: 0.075

TEC: 26.251 seconds

Full Reload Time: 17.5 seconds

Damage [Func_Physbox]

Base Damage: 21.762 per shot

Sustained DPS: 172.44 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns!): 290.16 DPS

Damage [Func_Breakable]

Base Damage: 21.762 per shot

Sustained DPS: 79.239 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns): 133.333 DPS

The Natascha in base TF2 is a weapon primarily used for its slowdown mechanic. At close ranges, it allows Heavies to essentially lock players in place or impair them enough such that they perish to the sustained fire.

In Zombie Escape, players are already slowed down to some extent when shot at, and the plugin currently being used interferes with the Natascha's default slowing attribute. So, it plays a bit of a weirder role by being a high-fire rate spray gun with a firing speed bonus, an accuracy penalty, and a bonus bullets per shot bonus that allow it to lock down wider areas of zombies for shortened amounts of time.

Due to its increased rate of fire, the minigun will expend ammo far faster in approximately ~26 seconds of firing; emphasizing the dynamic of Natascha users needing to rely on Engineer support for consistency and longevity in holding down defenses with the weapon's absurd firepower, else suffer being consistently out of ammo to hold down places.

Also has a nice sound to its rev up.

Tomislav

Attributes
Weapon Spread: 50:1
+60% Faster Spin Up Time
+50% More Accurate
+25% Damage vs Players
-7% Damage Penalty
-20% Slower Firing Speed
Silent Killer: No barrel spin sound

[Timings]

Attack Interval: 0.12

TEC: 420.42 seconds

Full Reload Time: 17.5 seconds

Damage [Func_Physbox]

Base Damage: 33.48 per shot

Sustained DPS: 267.691 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns!): 279 DPS

Damage [Func_Breakable]

Base Damage: 16 per shot

Sustained DPS: 127.928 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns): 133.333 DPS

The Tomislav in base TF2 is usually considered a good alternative to the stock Minigun for general use. While the lack of a barrel spin sound may be relatively useless in most cases for Zombie Escape, its other attributes lend themselves well to specific playstyles.

The spread bonus allows this weapon to remain more accurate, which can be helpful for far-away bosses or for accurately holding off zombies at a greater distance. The decrease in spin-up time also means that Heavies utilizing the Tomislav can reposition more quickly and respond much faster to any oncoming threats (and even borderlines being able to use the weapon against specific laser bosses.)

Notably, this weapon's nonstop DPS is the lowest among all miniguns. For scenarios involving long boss fights with dispensers available for support, this may not be an ideal pick if one wants to maximize their damage output. Aside from that, this weapon is probably the best weapon for sustained defenses, as its lessened fire rate coupled with the server's ammo regeneration of ~8 ammo/s means that it takes much longer to deplete all its ammo—so much longer that it'd take around ~420 seconds or ~7 minutes to run out even without dispenser support. While this does make it extremely consistent as a defensive option, it may still be less powerful compared to other miniguns when supplemented by dispensers. High fire rates are needed to reliably push back or hold off zombies, but even then, this weapon remains at the highest end of it in spite of the penalties.

Huo-Long Heater

Attributes
Weapon Spread: 16.666:1
+50% Faster Firing Speed
+25% Damage Bonus vs Burning Players
+100% Bullets Per Shot
+60% Faster Spin Up Time
+25% Damage vs Players
-66.5% Damage Penalty
-50% Less Accurate
When Held: Does not gain ammo from Dispensers.
Creates a ring of fire while Spun Up

[Timings]

Attack Interval: 0.06

TEC: 16.155 seconds

Full Reload Time: 17.5 seconds

Damage [Func_Physbox]

Base Damage: 34.12 per shot

Sustained DPS: 189.98 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns!): 402 DPS

Damage [Func_Breakable]

Base Damage: 12 per shot

Sustained DPS: 94.517 DPS

Clip DPS (Nonstop; Real DPS for Miniguns): 200 DPS

The Huo-Long Heater in base TF2 is a niche pick for Heavy with a gimmick of self-protection and increased damage output via its fire ring. This fire ring deters players from getting close—notably cloaked spies—and will ignite players that do. This allows Heavies to follow up and deal more damage to them due to the added attribute of increased damage to burning players. It does come at a steep cost of ammo lost when spun up, making it a very unsustainable minigun with dispenser support. In the context of Zombie Escape, this idea of unsustainability is exacerbated. With a faster fire rate, a Heavy will run out of ammo in just ~16 seconds without a dispenser.

While this does seem bad (it is), the Huo-Long Heater works as a “burstdown” weapon for massive damage and bullet output to both shred and knock back zombies in the couple seconds it’s used. To compensate, it actually can’t regain ammo from dispensers, making it reliant on the plugin's gradual ammo regeneration. This goes all in with the whole “use it when the time is right'' concept that can be beneficial for shorter, more intense defenses on maps. Since the fire rate is so high, the ammo loss while spun up has actually been nullified. But, even without it, the sustained DPS of this weapon remains at ~190, with its nonstop DPS of 402 being only achievable with infinite ammo items.

The biggest concern for a weapon idea like this is, of course, the fun of it. The old, old Huo-Long Heater didn’t feel rewarding enough to use, especially when holding down a defense is so important for Heavies. It treaded into the territory of redundancy, as shotguns usually serve as a Heavy’s more effective burst-down tool. To really set it apart, this instead dials up the absurdity of its power to make it worth the downtime. It essentially takes all of the upsides of all miniguns and crams them together. Used at the most opportune moments, this weapon may have the potential to really shine.