Mann vs Machine is easy. Knowing that is the secret to having fun and being good at MvM.

All those robots, trying to drop bombs in that hole way over there? None of them stand a chance. You've got big, overpowered guns and you're basically invincible. You power yourself with the blood (money) of your enemies. They all move predictably and slowly, and are designed to lose.

That being said, there is an odd trend among MvM players who believe that people must adhere to certain optimal loadouts. A metagame has developed for MvM, where people expect certain things from certain classes. Deviating from these loadouts and strategies will lead to failure. This isn't true at all. The harsh truth is people lose in MvM because they are bad and made mistakes. Nearly anything can be successful in MvM if you and your team are good enough and work together. The purpose of this guide is to propose different ways of playing MvM, and calling out the myths of the metagame. Or as I like to call it, Playing MvM Like a Mann.

Pictured: you.

A metagame is a concept that occurs in almost every competitive or multiplayer game that defines a sort of ruleset that exists beyond the definitions of the game itself. I'm going to steal Wikipedia's words because it's easy and very much applies to MvM:

In simple terms, it is the use of out-of-game information or resources to affect one's in-game decisions.

Metagames create a sort of unspoken ruleset that define what is and isn't good and what you should or shouldn't be using. Metagaming is useful in competitive games, because it gives you insight on what your opponents are likely doing, and what you should likely be doing if you want to win against them. However, in the case of MvM, having a strict metagame actually is not very useful at all. In MvM, you're not trying to defeat other sentient players who can react and respond to your tactics. You're fighting robots who are designed to lose. It doesn't matter if you stick to the metagame's "optimal team structure". If you make good use of your upgrades and you're able to put out enough damage and stay alive, you can win. There's no necessary class or role requirements to win MvM beyond that.

"But author", you say out aloud to no one, "MvM isn't easy! I tried it once and got my butt kicked, and then the people on the server kicked me because I didn't have the right upgrades! It was a miserable experience." Well, the fact of the matter is you're just not good at the game. The people you were playing with probably weren't very good either, but they were also jerks. This guide isn't going to teach you how to be good, only you can do that. I'm not here to talk to beginners, I'm here to talk to winners.

This is going to be the main meat of the guide. I'm going to go through each class and provide Mannly alternatives and strategies that don't get employed very often because of people's fear of losing.


Metagame Myth: A Scout is required, as he is the only way to get an A+

The Scout's unique Money Magnet ability and insane overheal from money collection naturally puts him in the position of The Money Guy. And in a game about getting money, you just NEED a money guy. Plus, he can slow down robots with his milk, and mark giants for Mini-Crits. A good Scout always brings his Mad Milk and Fan-o-War and focuses on collecting money and assisting his team. "No other class is gonna do that!" indeed. The choice of Scattergun is, of course, completely marginal compared to the importance of his milk and money collection.

Mannly Truth: Play Scout only if you want to play it, not because everyone says you should.

Let's be honest here: everything about the Scout in MvM is sort of a hodgepodge of ideas they slapped onto him in order to make him useful in the first place. MvM is a game of glorified spawn-camping. Every other class in the game has a natural and logical ability to bring to the table when it comes to locking down an area and providing a large amount of damage. Scout, on the other hand, is a class that shines by flanking individual weak or unwary players 1v1. In MvM, you don't do 1v1, or worry about flanks. You don't get to choose your battles as a Scout in MvM. Scout's money abilities are the only thing that they could possibly give him to make him useful, so they simply accented his support abilities to play along with that idea.



Remember: every other class in the game can walk over to a bundle of cash and pick it up before it burns. It's just that it's easier to let a Scout do it so you don't have to think about it. Getting an A on any wave is pretty easy to do even without a Scout as long as you're able to keep the robots under control. Getting an A+ is as simple as being dilligent with cleaning up after yourself and communicating. Even with a Scout, you often need to inform him of when you kill a robot in an awkward place anyway. If you forgo Scout, you can have an additonal damage class or alternative support class which can help maintain your control of an area well enough that everyone can pick up money safely.

I'm not saying Scout is a bad or ultimately useless class in MvM - obviously it isn't. I'm just saying you don't need to play Scout if you don't want to. Scout can certainly be a fun class to play, but if you're not having fun with it, you probably won't do as well as you could be.

If you want to play Scout, however you choose to play him, take advantage of the enormous health boost you get. Obviously prioritize money collection, because hey, might as well, but it's also fine and good to shoot the robots with your gun too. The Sandman is also a great weapon to invest in, and can basically become your primary weapon. Like the Fan-o-War, the Sandman can mark targets, but it can also stun them, and even deal damage with upgraded swing speed. Also, keep in mind that without a money boost, you're extremely vulnerable. Sometimes a team may get pushed back beyond a chokepoint and leave money behind the hordes of bots. If you find yourself respawning in this sort of situation, strongly consider making a quick switch to Bonk! Atomic Energy over your Mad Milk temporarily, just to bypass the wall of damage and safely get the money. If your team can't survive a section of a wave without your Milk, then you probably have bigger problems.


Metagame Myth: The Soldier should run the Buff Banner to give his team mini-crits

The standard MvM Soldier probably has the most varied loadout compared to all of the classes, because almost all of his primaries are viable and good, because they all pretty much accomplish the same thing. The important thing for this Soldier is that he runs the Buff Banner, to provide his fellow damage classes, Engineer, Heavy, and Demo, with a constant stream of mini-crits to rain death upon the robots. Blast resists help him rocket jump, and he can use his mobility and Rocket Specialist upgrades to deal with giant Scouts.

Mannly Truth: The Soldier has two other backpacks and a friggin' laser gun, and they are all cool, good, and fun.

Being immune to crits and being in a state of constant whipping are both just as useful as minicrits in MvM, and they also give cool passive bonuses to the Soldier equipping them. Keeping your team alive is equally important to providing a boost in damage, and all the backpacks are helpful and welcome on almost every team.

The Soldier's Righteous Bison secondary is also an interesting weapon that is basically built for MvM. Though the damage each laser does is small, its upgrades are cheap, and it can become a rapid fire stream of lasers that can penetrate entire hordes of robots. The Righteous Bison is undoubtedly the funnest way to play Soldier. With how cheap it is to upgrade, you can also afford to upgrade things like your movement speed and jump height, both of which are very under-rated and under-utilized.

Honestly, it's hard to not be useful as a Soldier. The only thing I could imagine would be relatively useless would be a Rocket Jumper/Manntreads loadout. In fact, I formally request to Valve that you add Manntreads upgrades that let you deal shockwave damage when you land. That would be so fun.


Metagame Myth: Pyro is mostly only useful on waves with tanks, because he has the most consistent DPS against them.

Pyro is somewhat of an off-class, something for the Scout to switch to on the last wave, when the added DPS against the tank is necessary. Airblasting the bomb carrier is a useful ability, but one that isn't always useful because it requires the bomb to be in front of a hole or cliff. The peak of Pyro's MvM usefulness was back before the Phlogistinator was nerfed, and a Pyro could solo the tanks on Bigrock so his teammates could deal with the other robots.

Mannly Truth: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Airblast the Bomb

Pyro can a top-scoring class in MvM. His damage output can be as high as an Engineer or a Demoman, and he can accumulate an insane amount of points through support. And he can do this well on missions without tanks.

Personally, I have found that Two Cities, Mannhattan in particular, are seemingly built around the Pyro. A Pyro with max airblast upgrades can stop giant robots in their tracks, and do insane amounts of damage with reflects against rapid fire crit Soldiers who are common on these maps. Both maps have ledges everywhere for a Pyro to screw up the bomb carrier's path, and he can prevent robots from capping the points in Mannhattan by just knocking them off. The best thing about playing Pyro is how rewarding it is. Each time you airblast a robot, you can see your points go up. Airblasting a giant in place will get you dozens of points. Let's not forget about damage either. Even with no damage upgrades, you can still melt through hordes of robots without dying thanks to resistance upgrades.

Similar to the Righteous Bison Soldier, a Pyro can also opt for the fun yet effective strategy of maxing out his flare gun secondary. A flare gun Pyro can unleash a rapid fire stream of crit flares from long range, or become a napalm artillery gun with the Scorch Shot. He also has an interesting choice of viable melee options. An upgraded swing speed Axetinguisher can deal tons of damage to giants and Fists of Steel Heavies. The Powerjack's movespeed can help you get yourself to where you need to be in a hurry, which is particularly useful on big maps. Lastly, the Third Degree in combination with a crit canteen can take out every Uber Medic on a giant bot in one swing.

Metagame Myth: A Demoman is most useful with an upgraded sticky launcher.

Much like in regular TF2, the best Demoman loadout is the stock one, with a focus on stickies. The stickybomb launcher is the best weapon in TF2, no doubt about it. With upgrades, a sticky Demoman can destroy hoards of robots with one eye closed. A Demoman with an upgraded Grenade Launcher can also be really good, but you're pretty much comparing apples to oranges here. Demoman master race.

Mannly Truth: All of Demoman's weapons are effective even before upgrades, including Demoknight.

I cannot deny the metagame description of Demoman. His explosive weapons are really the best in the game, and no amount of BSing can refute that. But that doesn't mean his other options aren't fun or effective. Before I go on, I have to mention that Demoman upgrades are extremely expensive compared to other classes. Because of this, I have to suggest that any aspiring Demoman ought to upgrade resistances before upgrading his weapon damage. In fact, this is a general rule that you should follow for every class in the game:

Buy Resistances Early, and Buy Them Often

It doesn't matter how powerful your gun is if you can't live long enough to make good use of it. It's easier to maximize your damage with nearly any weapon if you can stand taking damage for more than two seconds. This is especially true for the Demoman, whose weapons are already powerful enough to destroy most robots easily enough.

The importance of resistances on Demoman can't be talked about without mentioning the merits of the Targe n Charge. Fire resistance is usually a waste of money because of how easy it is to avoid Pyros, but being passively immune to residual fire damage and take even less damage from splash rockets is a pretty big deal. What I'm trying to suggest is that if you choose to focus your upgrades on your grenade launcher primary, you should consider running the Targe n Charge alongside it. You miss out on traps, but you gain a lot more survivability. For a long time, my go-to loadout for Demoman in MvM was the Loch-n-Load, the Targe n Charge, and the Eyelander. Even without Eyelander upgrades, it was easy enough to get heads from stray bots, and I could output tons of damage with the Loch-n-Load.

Speaking of the Eyelander, the Demoman, if he has a shield equipped, gets additional melee upgrade options, such as damage and crits on kill. An upgraded Demoknight is a sight to behold, running through mobs of robots with a constant stream of crits and health, and a staggering amount of DPS. Definitely a Mannly option.


Metagame Myth: POOT DISPENSER HERE

I AM HEAVY WEAPONS GUY. AND THIS: IS MY WEAPON. SHE WEIGHS 150 KILOGRAMS AND FIRES $200 CUSTOM TOOL CARTRIDGES AT 10,000 ROUNDS PER MINUTE. IT COSTS $400,000 TO FIRE THIS WEAPON FOR TWELVE SECONDS.

Needless to say, the Heavy needs all the support he can get in firing that weapon, especially from the Engineer's dispenser. It's indispensable, to say the least. Playing Heavy in MvM is all about positioning, preferably near a dispenser. His different minigun upgrades, between destroying projectiles and rage knockback, are really up to the discretion of the player and the content of the wave. Brass Beast is the preferred weapon for its increased damage, because you'll be spun up most of the time anyway, but Natascha is definitely viable to slow down giant Scouts.

Mannly Truth: Move your tush closer to the robots you fat fatty

You are a Heavy weapons guy. You have 300 health, potentially more with a Medic or health on kill upgrades. There's no doubt you need support to stay on the front lines, but your minigun can be so much more effective when you are closer to the robots. Heavy is one of the few classes I would say move speed is noticeably useful on, because it lets you get your ideal positioning more often.

There really isn't much else to say about a minigun Heavy, all his upgrades are good. Instead, I'm going to talk about the best alternative way to play Heavy, and my personal favorite Mannly way of playing. Unfortunately, it requires a Medic to truly be effective, but if you can convince one to help you, you can really go places. With maximum resists and the Fists of Steel, an overhealed Heavy can tank pretty much everything MvM can throw at him besides Demoknight hordes. It's undoubtedly more fun than minigun Heavy, and with upgraded swing speed, it deals a surprising amount of damage. You can absorb damage from a giant robot while you get in his face and punch him to death. If you ever find yourself in trouble while in the middle of a hoard of robots, all you need to do is crouch jump, and surf off the shots that hit you into safety. This isn't just advice for a Fists of Steel Heavy, it's advice for any class that finds itself up close and personal with the robots.

A small comment about opting for the Shotgun Heavy gimmick: An upgraded Family Business holds a clip size of 24, and that is just hilariously big. It's just a damn shame you can't upgrade damage on it.


Metagame Myth: Engineer is the closest to a required class in MvM. Without his buildings, most missions would be impossible.

A good Engineer will focus on upgrading his sentry gun and dispenser range. He has a few good options to keep his sentry alive and healthy, between upgraded wrench swing speed, building upgrade canteens, the Rescue Ranger, and most importantly, the Wrangler. With the Wrangler, he can go toe-to-toe with the biggest and baddest of the Giants, and the increased firing speed makes short work of them. Sentry Busters are of course, the Engineer's responsibility, and are easily disposed of by baiting them with your sentry gun safely away from your team. The new buffed Short Circuit has seen increased usage with its ability to shut down any gaint projectile users, but the loss of the Wrangler makes his Sentry more vulnerable to Heavies and accidental medic pops.

Mannly Truth: The most important thing an Engineer brings to the table is his Dispenser, and you can learn to live without it.

Much like the Demoman, I can't deny the Engineer's usefulness. It's arguably the most useful class in MvM. But even that doesn't make him absolutely essential. Ammo packs are placed in relatively accessable places in MvM, and smart uses of those and ammo upgrades can make up for any lack of an Engineer. Most people aren't used to playing without an Engineer, but it's a perfectly viable way of playing that is always worth trying if nobody feels like playing the texas building man.

All that said, the Engineer actually has a ton of options available to him. Much like the Demoman's stickies, a level 3 sentry gun with only light upgrades (generally health) has more than enough power to keep large the number of robots under control and take pressure off of your team. Like with the Scout, I have to point out that it can be OK to upgrade your primary weapon to do damage. An upgraded Frontier Justice can be a fun weapon to use in conjunction with your level 3 sentry gun. Letting your sentry get destroyed by a Sentry Buster is sometimes worth it to give you the revenge crits, and also just to stop them from constantly coming and disrupting your team. Upgraded metal capacity and build canteens can help bring your sentry back quickly, and you can use your revenge crits to aid in combat. The Gunslinger is another option, as it lets the Engineer focus on his combat abilities while still providing your team with a Dispenser without attracting Sentry Busters. The Widowmaker is a good option to go with this, as its upgrades are cheap and easy to use.

As an aside, if you choose to run the Short Circuit on any Engineer set, don't upgrade its firing speed. That just needlessly drains your metal faster.

Metagame Myth: There's almost no reason to not use the Kritzkrieg as a Medic

Before the Two Cities update, Medic was one of the least useful classes in MvM. Because people could buy kritz canteens and gain overheal through kills, the need for a Medic was lessened greatly. Now that Medics can revive people and make an damage absorbing shield, they are one of the best classes and can carry any team to victory. With an increased ubercharge duration upgrade on a Kritzkrieg, they can assist Demomen and Heavies in smashing through any robot that stands in the way.

Mannly Truth: Medic's value is primarily in his shield and reviving.

Medics are certainly better than they used to be now that they can revive people and use their overpowered shields of life/death. But Medic's other Medi-guns bring different uses to the table and offer alternate playstyles, especially in the case of the Vaccinator. The Vaccinator was a weapon that was pretty much designed for MvM, but was still never used before the Two Cities update. But now that Medic can revive dead players, and can instantly revive players with an Ubercharge, the Vaccinator is the best medi-gun to combat death and keep your team alive. Because it charges so fast, and you can store 4 mini-ubers, it's the perfect option to take advantage of the revival mechanic. Plus, with Canteen-sharing, you can make use of kritz without actually having kritz.

While the Vaccinator can take full advantage of the uber-revival mechanic, the Quick-Fix stands out as a great option to take advantage of the shield mechanic. It has the innate bonus to healing speed, and the shield builds faster the faster you heal. Additionally, if you max out the heal rate, you can revive players as fast as an uninvested Medi-gun's uber-revival. Because the Quick-Fix's uber effect is less important to it as a weapon than the Kritz is, you can focus your upgrades towards other things besides Ubercharge length and build rate. Additional bonuses in resists and overheal could easily help you out more in the long run than an extended (and often wasted) kritz push.

An interesting upgrade option added in the Two Cities update is Mad Milk syringes. If you maxed your resistances, and maxed your Needlegun or Blutsauger, you could potentially outheal any damage done to you in the face of any robot. This gimmick is definitely a late-game-refund only strategy, and it might take some cooperation from your team, but it's definitely the Mannliest way to play Medic. Plus, in a roundabout way, you're still healing your team!


Metagame Myth: Sniper is a class you should only play if you're confident you can hit a good number of headshots.

A good Sniper is actually one of the most powerful classes in MvM, but it requires that you be good enough (or have good enough ping) to nail multiple headshots to take advantage of the Explosive Headshot upgrade. The Hitman's Heatmaker is the best weapon in this endeavor, as its Focus mechanic lets you get and charge multiple headshots without the need to unscope to reload. A good Sniper also runs Jarate with a slow upgrade to assist his team against giants.

Mannly Truth: You can play Sniper even if you aren't that good at getting headshots.

Well, I should reiterate. You can play Sniper without getting headshots by playing the Huntsman. If you want to get away with body shotting, use the Huntsman. I've tried to make no-headshot Sniper work with the Sydney Sleeper but it just doesn't do enough damage even with max upgrades, so you ought to just stick with the Huntsman for that. A fully upgraded Huntsman is basically a Righteous Bison that can't penetrate tanks but can inflict bleed and lucky headshots. It, like most Mannly loadouts, has a rough start in the beginning, so consider using your refund upgrades to switch to it when you have enough money in the late-game.

That being said, even if you're not the best Sniper you can still do good enough to make use of a more standard sniper rifle. Giant robots especially move slowly and make easy targets for headshots. If you worry you're not good enough at clicking heads to play Sniper in MvM, you ought to at least give it a try if you want to play the class. After all, you can't get better without playing it in the first place. And if you ARE good at Sniper, by all means, play it! Seriously, don't limit yourself to Heavy or Demoman or whatever. A skilled Sniper is probably the most destructive class in MvM, arguably even moreso than a Demoman.


Metagame Myth: Spy is the most useless class in MvM

It's unfortunate to say, but Spies usually can't cut it in MvM. They bring almost nothing useful to the table, or at least nothing that couldn't be done just as good by another class. Sapping and stabbing Medics isn't any more efficient than a sticky trap or explosive headshot. Despite being easy to fool, robots are quick to point out and target any Spy who reveals himself, so chain stabs are usually out of the question too. The best thing that could be said about Spies is their ability to backstab any non-giant robot, which includes Fists of Steel pushers and Samurai Demoknights. Whenever Spy is played in MvM, they tend toward the stock Knife and Revolver, and use the Dead Ringer to shield themselves from the massive amounts of damage directed at them. Ammo canteens can be useful, as they instantly recharge your Sapper.

Mannly Truth: Yeah, that's pretty much the size of it, Spy sucks.

Spy is an awful and useless class in both MvM and regular TF2. Remember when I said they had to throw gimmicks on the Scout to make him useful in MvM? They completely forgot to do that for the Spy. You would have to have some sort of degenerate brain disease to ever choose to play Spy in any context. In fact, I would call into question your moral character too. Kick any player who tries to play Spy. It's really easy to do, and will almost always work. Don't even ask them to change class, they don't deserve it. At that point, they aren't even people.

A Mann is simply a player who understands the philosophy of being good without trying hard. A Mann is willing to be flexible, is willing to listen and communicate, and most importantly, emphasize having fun.

Maybe I'm not being fair to the people who have difficulties beating this game even with standard metagame loadouts. After all, just because MvM is easy to a veteran like me, who has played it since the mode was added, doesn't mean everyone can have the confidence to play what they want and still succeed. And if you don't know how to play the game, you can't know how to play like a Mann. What's worse is the idea of playing MvM with strangers who all have different, conflicting ideas and strategies. Disagreements amongst teammates and refusal to cooperate will loose you more games than any suboptimal weapon or loadout.


Pictured: A shotgun Heavy, needlegun Medic, grenade-spec'd Demo, and an Engie who doesn't care about his sentry, all ready and able to demolish some robots.

Most of this metagaming occurs because people don't trust strangers. They don't know if they can trust some random person to play Sniper, so they pressure him to play Engie. A Medic without a Kritzkrieg is surely bad and doesn't have any clue what he's doing. I mean, I myself am guilty of this. It's pretty obvious when a player is new, and it's easier to get frustrated with them instead of helping them with friendly advice. By playing with friends or with people you trust you can avoid all of that and just have a fun time shooting robots.

So, what was the point of this guide?

All I'm trying to say is that there's no correct way to play MvM. Players don't need to dictate to one another how best to play when there is an endless amount of winning strategies. If even half of the team has good players on it, you can afford to run anything. That's what really gets me. If you're good at MvM, why do you have to limit yourself to what everyone else says you should? Play something silly! You'll still win! It's just completely baffling that people maintain the charade that MvM is challenging, especially the 2 Cities missions. The old missions starved you of money so badly you had to make due primarily with your own skill. And yet people still managed.

Quit blaming your failures on weapon choices and just look at how you and your team failed to manage whatever beat you. Mann up to your mistakes and try again. At this point I'm just repeating myself so I'm gonna wrap it up here with the wise words of one of NA's best Demomen: