Top 10 Best Team Fortress 2 Demoman Weapons
The lack of rolling pills with the Loch-n-Load can sometimes severely hinder its offensive capabilities and potential for area denial. The Iron Bomber's lower roll is not always beneficial - in fact, it feels more like a crutch in most situations, excluding direct hits and pipe jumping.
The complete damage penalty on the Sticky Jumper often restricts it to jumping around. It is very fun and allows the Demoman to reach the frontlines at no cost, but it severely hinders what he's best at - indirect combat. The shields do provide damage resistance and critical hits, but you have to give up the Stickybomb Launcher, which is a fantastic weapon - something I will cover later. The Quickiebomb Launcher is bad at area denial and more suited for sticky-spamming and airbursting. The Scottish Resistance has restrictions that limit it to a more defensive role.
The swords often have downsides that apply when they are not equipped. The Ullapool Caber is a great melee weapon but is only a last resort.
The Stickybomb Launcher truly embraces what the Demoman is best at, and it is more versatile and flexible than all other options.
This is the default Demoman secondary weapon. It shoots grenades similar to the mines of the Stickybomb Launcher, with the same explosive radius and similar damage. The grenades, although similar to the mines, have different properties. They do not stick to surfaces. Instead, they detonate instantly on direct hits. If they miss, they sit on the floor for three seconds before automatically exploding, dealing roughly half the damage of a direct hit. This weapon is definitely the Demoman's weapon of choice for direct combat and can support his minefield traps very well. However, if you miss your direct hits, it can be extremely difficult to fight off better-equipped classes such as Snipers and Scouts, who possess weapons with bullets (hitscan).
You get 4 loaded grenades and 16 reserve grenades with this weapon. Reloading is slow, as only one grenade is restored per reload, making spamming an ineffective strategy.
This is definitely one of the most powerful Demoman weapons. However, it has some non-default variants that can outclass it in certain aspects of its playstyles, making them more focused on one specific Grenade Launcher playstyle but weaker in others.
This is my all-time favorite because of the knockback, double donk, and the ability to decide how long the cannon should last. The downside is kind of offset by the double donk, which deals about 130 damage!
A non-default Grenade Launcher variant, this weapon shoots grenades that travel faster through the air, giving them more range and dealing more damage to buildings. However, it has a smaller explosion radius and the grenades shatter into harmless pieces on non-player/building surfaces. The launcher holds only 3 grenades instead of 4.
Currently, the Loch-n-Load is one of the worst variants of the default Grenade Launcher and arguably one of the worst weapons in the game. Its current stats of +20% damage vs. buildings, +25% projectile speed, -25% explosion radius, -25% clip size, and grenades shattering on non-player/building surfaces make it poorly balanced. The weapon was once very good, almost overpowered, but constant complaints led Valve to continually change and arguably downgrade (nerf) it.
While the weapon may be fairly good in some scenarios, its biggest flaw is that the default Grenade Launcher is almost universally better. The increased damage to buildings is largely irrelevant since the Demoman is already highly effective at destroying buildings with his vast arsenal of explosive weaponry. However, the buff does allow it to destroy an unattended building with only 2 grenades instead of 3. The speed buff is the Loch-n-Load's only shining feature, but another Demoman Grenade Launcher variant, the Loose Cannon, offers a similar projectile speed. Unlike the Loose Cannon, though, the Loch-n-Load's grenades do explode on direct hits, making it a cross between the Loose Cannon and the Grenade Launcher.
The Loch-n-Load's penalties are not too severe, but its benefits aren't impressive either, making it one of the worst weapons for the Demoman.
Oh my gosh, I put in this item, and it beat 10th and 9th place, and now it's 9th! Go Headtaker!
This epic melee weapon explodes on impact. You can even still use it as a normal melee weapon afterward.
A decent compromise between the basic grenade launcher and the sticky bomber, but not as good as either one. It's useful if you want to use a shield instead of a sticky bomber because you have better control over the placement of your grenades than with the base launcher.
A great weapon that really helps with accuracy. This is by far my favorite.
It's better than the other shields like the Chargin' Targe. You have full steering control, so it's easy to catch Scouts and other classes.
You can have so much health and speed after a few kills. If you want to be a Demoknight, then the Eyelander, Tide Turner, and the Bootlegger (which compensates for the lower health) are the perfect combination.
How is this thing so low? The Eyelander literally gives one of the slowest classes in the game the opportunity to outrun Scouts with the right weapons.
It is an awesome weapon. With four heads, you have 210 HP, and you are faster than a Medic. No other class except Scout can outrun you.
While the Demoman excels at indirect combat and the Quickiebomb Launcher is not the most flexible, it can still hold its weight. It can function effectively in chokepoints despite the damage penalty with a concentrated focus of stickies. It can also eliminate enemy stickies, and the faster charge time allows for more airbursting and harassing of enemies. The faster arm time means it can hit enemies more quickly in direct combat. Despite the clip size penalty, six stickies are usually all you need.
People tend to complain about all its positives compared to its single negative attribute, but the truth is it doesn't need anything else. This single downside is enough to set it firmly behind defensive lines, where it excels. I consider the flank-routey pl_upward the best Demoman defensive map.
The Scottish Resistance is very defensive, while the stock grenade launcher is versatile, and the Quickiebomb is offensive.
The number of stickies you can deploy to cover an entire area on defense, and sometimes on offense, is amazing in any game. Combined with the ability to detonate clusters of stickies independently, it puts immense pressure on a pushing or defending enemy team - provided your stickies are actually armed.
This weapon is great because it provides 50% resistance to explosives, 40% resistance to fire, and immunity to afterburn. This gives the Demoman a way to tank hits better if he wants to focus on using a grenade launcher.
This weapon is good for escaping a battle and attacking distant enemies.
It is good for killing any class, except overhealed Heavies, Spies, and Scouts.
Oh my gosh! I added this weapon to the list, and it's now 10th! Go Skullcutter!
The Splendid Screen is the best. I can get instant kills, make a bang, and also escape if I'm trapped.
It's the frying pan, for God's sake!
When this weapon is active:
- This weapon has a large melee range and deploys and holsters more slowly.
- 0.5-second increase in charge duration.
- Melee kills refill 25% of your charge meter.
- No random critical hits.
- 15% damage vulnerability on the wearer.
Sounds like Claymore, nice.
Although it is frequently frowned upon, the Pain Train (especially when coupled with a stickybomb launcher) makes the Demoman a force to be reckoned with. This one weapon grants him an ability unique to the Scout, allowing him to become a ninja at capping points.
However, he does have a few weaknesses: Scouts, a notorious counter. Heavies, which can wreck him at close range. Snipers, who usually don't target him. And Engineers' Sentry Guns, which pose the largest hazard.
If you play as a true Demoman, you won't need a sword. A simple bottle strikes quickly and doesn't alter your health.