Robots are the main enemy that you will be facing in MvM. They will appear in large hoards, and will try to kill you. They appear in many different shapes in forms, modelled after the classes of TF2, with some having crazy powerful abilities, while others will annoy you until the end of the wave. Thankfully, since they are bots, they are not very smart. Unthankfully, they have unlimited ammo, so they are very persistent.

Before you hit that READY UP button on your keyboard (F4 people!), there are usually icons at the top of the screen that will show you which robots are coming, and how many of them there will be. The default robots will usually have their default icons for what class they will be (like fire for Pyro, bullets for Heavy, a mask for Spy etc.)

As you can see, in this wave there will be 48 Scouts and 16 Pyros.

However, there will also be robots with special icons and even special outlines that will define what sort of special robot's they will be.

In this wave, there are 10 Giant Demomen, 6 Giant Pyros, 46 regular Pyros, 12 Sandman Scouts, 55 Bowmen and 9 Über Medics with Sniper and Spy support.

Another important thing to note, is that robots can appear permanently crit-boosted. These robots are identified by a blue outline around their icon, and they can appear either on giants or normal robots. Take extra care when fighting these crit-boosted robots, as critical hits do not have damage falloff, and can be frustrating to deal with.

Before going into battle, the robots usually spawn in upper areas in the map, where the players cannot normally reach. While in this area, the robots are invincible, meaning that they can't be killed whilst in said upper area. Robots also can't attack you while in the area, so it's fair game. Once they leave this area, they are not invincible anymore and start attacking.

The main spawn area in the map Rottenburg.

In MvM, the main objective of the robots is to carry a bomb to the Mann Co. Bombhatch. Once they reach the bombhatch, they will deploy the bomb which will explode and end the game. Your main objective is to stop them.

While carrying the bomb, normal robots will be slowed to 50% of their normal speed, but will also receive special bonuses after carrying the bomb after a certain amount of time, which can also be seen at the bottom of your HUD. These come in stages.

After killing a robot with these buffs, it will reset and the next robot will have to hold the bomb again to recieve these buffs.

Giant robots are different, and do not get slowed down by the bomb, but don't recieve any buffs like the normal robots do.

On certain maps and missions, such as:

• Mech Mutilation (Mannworks Ironman)
  
• Caliginous Caper (Ghost Town Wave 666)
  
• And all Mannhattan Missions

There is a bomb reset system, similarly to how the briefcase in CTF is reset. After a short period of time (30 seconds for Mannworks and Ghost Town, 35 for Mannhattan) where the bomb is not picked up by any robots, it will reset and be sent back to the start of the map where the robots will pick it up again. This is an exclusive feature to these missions, as they are a lot longer and more strenuous than normal MvM missions.

Normal robots can be identified by the plain white backgrounds they have on the HUD before the wave starts, and as I mentioned, are slowed down by the bomb and are able to recieve buffs. These robots usually appear in large numbers and are very easy to deal with. Normal robots can also appear as support robots (unlike real support robots), which spawn normally and are still able to pick up the bomb.

Scouts are the most basic type of robot and usually appear in large numbers. They are very easy to deal with, and are usually seen carrying either the stock Scattergun or Bat. Another variant of this robot can carry a slower firing Scattergun, but since their weapons suffer from damage falloff, they do jack when you are further away, so they are not too dangerous in large groups.

There are also Scouts that carry the Sandman. These Baseball-based robots will fire their balls to stun your team so that other powerful robots can take them out and move forward with the bomb. Whilst there are basic Sandman Scouts, there are also ones with a faster ball recharge rate and some that can jump really high!


A Minor League Scout.


A Jumping Sandman Scout.

When facing against Hyper League Scouts, try to not let them hit you constantly with their stunning Baseballs. If they do, you can be locked in a constant stunned state!
Jumping Sandman Scouts are less of a threat, as their jumps don't really save them from damage of any kind, though they can avoid sentry guns more easily

Other robots that appear are Force-a-Nature Scouts, Bonk Scouts and Shortstop Scouts.


A Force-a-Nature Scout.

Bonk Scouts usually deploy their drink before they enter battle, making them invicible for a short period of time. If they are carrying the bomb when they do this, they will slow down and make their drink effect useless since they will not come into battle invincible, so they are not that bad to deal with.
Force-A-Nature Scouts are like the normal Scouts, but instead always have the Force-A-Nature equipped, making them capable of knocking players away easily, and more efficiently with their bonus knockback. Again, they should be not much trouble to deal with.
Shorstop Scouts have more health than regular Scouts, so they take more hits to kill, but their primary goal is to carry the bomb further into battle. However, since they appear in small numbers, they should not pose too much of a threat.

Soldiers, unlike Scouts, are very dangerous when put together in large groups. When they are, their flurry of rockets can leave you very unprepared, dying in seconds. Soldiers are more primarily focused on doing damage rather than carrying the bomb however.

Some Soldiers can have other weapons likes the Direct Hit and the Cow Mangler, but appear no different from regular Soldiers.


Dammit.

Other types of Soldiers wield the Buff Banner, Concherer and the Battalion's Backup to help their fellow robots by giving them buffs. These Soldiers have their buff ready from the start and deploy them immediately. There are also Extended Buff Soldiers, whose buffs are increased up 800%.


A Buff Banner Soldier.

When facing these robots, be sure to target them first before any other robots, as they can help make your situation worse by powering-up their fellow robots. On another note, be sure for your team to not use crit or mini-crit items against Backup Soldiers. The these robots do not recieve crits whatsoever, and using them is basically throwing them away.
Another thing to note is that the Buff Banner Soldiers can also be seen carrying Direct Hits on certain missions, such as Wave 666.

There are also two different robots that fire all their shots at once, which are the Black Box Soldier and the Blast Soldier.

Black Box Soldiers are usually not that big of a threat, as their damage penalty usually counters their ability to fire 3 shots at once. However, they can stay alive longer than regular Soldiers because of their heal on hit ability.
Blast Soldiers are very annoying, because they are able to knock back players in the heat of battle, allowing other robots to proceed to the bomb hatch. These robots have to be prioritised as they can be a large disturbance to your team.

Pyro Robots, like in normal gameplay, are close range fighters, and usually are very vulnerable against long range fighters. Some Pyros can reflect projectiles at players, making them extremely dangerous against Soldiers and Demomen, as they are able to reflect projectiles perfectly, and when in large groups, it's almost impossible to shoot a projectile in their faces.
Some Pyros will constantly fire their weapons at the player (W+M1 Pyros) and never stop due to their unlimited ammo supply.

To make up for their close-range counterparts, there are also the long-range Flare Pyros. Equipped with various flare guns, these Pyros will target you and try to kill you at long range. Along with the standard Flare Pyros, there are also nuke-like Pyro Pushers and fast firing Fast Scorch Shots.


A standard Flare Pyro.

Flare Pyros are easy to deal with at close range, due to their lack of damage, but if in combined groups (and considering you are on fire) their deadly shots can kill you in just a couple of hits with their crits against burning players.
Pyro Pushers aren't as deady however. Although they are permanently crit-boosted, their slow moving shots can easily be maneuvered around, and since they appear in small groups, they aren't of any serious concern.
Fast Scorch Shots are as deadly as Flare Pyros, and since they can keep firing at a faster pace, they can be just as deadly with their damage and knockback.

Robot Demomen, like Soldiers, are very powerful when combined in large groups and are able to deal large amounts of damage, as they are able to do, but at a smaller range. Your standard run of the mill Demomen often appear in large numbers and can pose a great threat to anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their hail of grenades.
Another type, called the Burst Fire Demoman, is a type that hail's its own grenades in a similar fashion.

Burst Fire Demoman are very well balanced, as their slower reload time counter's its abilities to fire all of its shots at once, so the should not be that hard to deal with.

Apart from the regular grenade-wielding varients, there are also Demoknights (they made it into MvM too?!?). Demoknights are close-range fighters, and are not afraid to get into the heat of battle. There are some strange variants of these Demoknights.


A Samurai Demoknight

Demoknights can be easily dealt with, as long as your teamates are not within close range of their attacks, but they are still deadly as melee weapons cannot be resisted against, with no upgrades or weapons. Try not to be killed by one, otherwise they will gain crits and be able to continue their massacre. A second variant of the Demoknight has the 1001 Demoknights set, so they can be more agressive and charge into battle more.
A larger version known as the Samurai Demoknight has more health and jump charges randomly into battle, as well as be able to charge more efficiently. These Demoknights are very dangerous, as they can regain half their health upon killing a player, so be careful when facing them.

The Heavy robots in MvM are one of the most powerful regular robots. As well as having an enormous amount of firepower, their 300 health can easily get the bomb to the hatch. Usually appearing in small groups, these robots are the firepower of all the robots. However, due to their slow movement speed (especially when carrying the bomb) they can be easy targets for classes with one-hit kills.
Among these robots are the rare Deflector Heavies, as well as the (Fat Scout) Shotgun Heavies.

The Deflector Heavy functions similarly to the regular Heavy robot, with the added benefit of being able to shoot down incoming projectiles that are in flight. It is different from the regular Heavy robot with its U-clank-a and green tracer firing effect rather than the usual yellowish orange.
Shotgun Heavies are more mobile varients of the regular Heavies, and are arguably more powerful terms of firepower, as their damage penalty does not counter their increased amount of pellets, so they are able to do decent mid-range damage.

Like Demoknights, there are also melee wielding versions of the Heavy, with some strange varients.


A Heavyweight Champ.

The Heavyweight Champ is a pure melee variant of the Heavy robot, and although it is restricted to melee range, these robots often come in large numbers. The Heavyweight Champ comes in two different types. The first type wields the KGB, and although they can be danegous if you're up close, they are not usually that tough. The second variant wields the GRU, allowing them to move faster but receive mini-crits; effectively making them a slower bat Scout.
The Heavy Mittens is another pure melee variant which moves faster and wields a permanent crit-boosted Holiday Punch. Spawning in small groups, they are unable to deal any damage, however any hit from them will force players to stand still and laugh, making them easier targets for other robots. They have been known to "mob" players by ganging up on them, or to hang around a single laughing player and stun lock him. It is highly advised to get rid of them before they get in melee range. Having only 20% of a typical Heavy robot's HP, they are fairly easy to destroy.

The Steel Gauntlet is similar to the Heavyweight Champ in the fact that it is a pure melee variant; however, the Steel Gauntlet can take an incredible amount of damage from ranged weapons due to its Fists of Steel and increased HP. They often appear in large waves and are sometimes assisted by other types of robots. The Steel Gauntlet often does not pose a threat to the players directly but instead by being a potent and resilient bomb carrier, especially since that increased resistance and health regeneration make them increadibly hard to kill. It is advised to kill these large robots immediately, as they pose a major threat. If you have a Spy or a Demoknight on your team, allow them to take it out, as Steel Gauntlets have increased melee vulnerability.
A second version of the Steel Gauntlet, known as the Steel Gauntlet Pusher, is a Steel Gauntlet that deals more damage it also possesses the ability to deal knockback against players upon a successful hit. Because of this, killing it with melee weapons becomes a much harder task. Otherwise, they are identical and pose the same threat as a regular Steel Gauntlet. What identifies them, is their facial hair (which for some reason is not robotic).


A Steel Gauntlet Pusher. Look at that sexy facial hair!

What? Did you think that the next robot I would cover is the Engineer Robot?

Engineer Robots are actually a support robot. I'll cover them later.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah!



Medic robots, like they are in normal gameplay, are a supportive class that are usually paired with other robots (usually giants). Their main focus is to keep their teamates alive (despite only pocketing one robot at a time). Their behaviour usually depends on the robot they are healing. When their buddy or itself becomes low on health (usually if their target is below 50% health, or the Medics themselves are on 54HP or lower), they then pop their Übercharge (if they have one ready, which they usually do). If the robot they are healing is killed, it arms itself with its syringe gun and defends itself before finding another robot to heal.

There are only two variants (with their own set of variants) of the Medic Robots. One is equipped with the stock Medigun, whilst the other has the Quick-Fix. All Medics have a 90% damage penalty on their syringe guns, so I won't put that in the stats section.

One important strategy to remember when facing Über Medics is to allow one-shot classes (like Sniper, Demoman or Spy) to take out the Medics before killing whatever they are healing. If you try to kill the heal target, the Medics will deply their Über, allowing the bomb to further progress to the hatch. It is very important to remember this when facing robots with Über Medic healers. As you can see, the Medics have a very fast Übercharge rate, which means that if they deploy their Übers once, they can quickly get it back. It is important to prioritise these Medics.

Quick-Fix Medics are not as dangerous as Über Medics, as they have very slow Übercharge rates for their weapons, but have massive heal rates. They can be focused without much hassle.

Why does Sniper even have a section? I thought they were a support class? Anyway...



The Bowman is a special robot. It will attempt to pick up the bomb (surprisingly) and acts like other robots, going into close range combat. It is equipped with the Huntsman, allowing it to fight easily up close, but not from a distance. Bowmen will never use any other weapons, preferring to still use arrows at point blank range. Being special robots, they appear far less frequently than the regular Snipers. There are two common types of Bowmen, one with decreased damage, and one with increased damage (commonly found in Mannhattan). Some waves of Snipers also spawn with several allied Pyros; the Pyros can light their arrows on fire and allow them to deal additional damage. Bowmen can also get headshots compaired to regular Snipers (I mean, who doesn't?)

There is another larger version of the Bowman called Bowman Rapid Fire.

This variant of the Sniper Robot fires arrows much faster than the average Bowman, and they appear in the advanced missions of Mannhattan. Their larger size and increase health makes them a lot harder to take out that normal Robots, and are focused on progressing the bomb further into battle.

Support Robots, unlike normal robots that are in support, are specific types of robots that appear exclusively as support (the right side of the robot HUD above support). Instead of picking up the bomb and delivering it to the hatch, these robots will spawn in the map with different intentions, mostly to help their robot buddies or try to kill players directly.

Engineer Robots are robots that only appear on the maps Decoy, Bigrock, Mannhattan and Rottenburg (due to them only being programmed for said maps). Their arrival and destruction is announced by the Administrator, as well as by a large beam of light that appears where it spawns. They usually have 500 health, four times that of the standard Engineer. Its main role is to build teleporter exits so the robots can spawn closer to the bomb. The Engineer spawns by teleporting onto a suitable sentry nest location near the bomb (if the bomb has not moved up far enough, the Engineer will not spawn), and immediately builds a teleporter exit and a Sentry Gun; players too close to the Engineer's appearance are knocked away instead of being telefragged. The Sentry Gun instantly upgrades itself to Level 3 upon completion, while the Teleporter, a Level 1 with doubled health, acts as a forward spawn point for entire groups of robots, giving them 5 seconds of invulnerability once they appear. An icon for the teleporter is shown when it is fully built.


A Teleporter Icon.

The other types of Engineers only have 275 health, and will have different behavious, depending on what type they are.

To get rid of the Nest, have a lone Soldier, Demoman or Spy take out the Engineer first of all, then take out the sentry and teleporter. It is also important not to let the Engineer build its nest in the first place, so try to kill it immediately, otherwise the robots will surprise you with an unwanted attack.

Unlike Bowman, regular Sniper robots appear in small numbers and behave like human Snipers, offering support to their teammates from afar. A notification appears when Snipers spawn, and players may yell "Sniper!" to alert their team to the robot's presence.
Their rifles emit lasers indicating where they are aiming and giving away their position. Snipers may relocate to avoid grenades and rockets but will rarely do so to get a view of their enemy, so players occupied with other robots like Tanks are advised to stay out of the Sniper's sights. If players get close to a Sniper robot, it will attack the player with its Kukri. Backing away from the robot will result in it using its Sniper Rifle to kill the player.
Their aim is deadly accurate, so they will always hit a player in sight and not taking rapid evasive action, such as strafing quickly back and forth or moving quickly left after moving right for a short time. However, they can't deal headshot damage and will usually not wait to charge their rifle, giving players a chance to ambush the robot.

A second version robot, called the Sydney Sniper, wields the Sydney Sleeper, and will get the chance to cover players with Jarate for other robots to take out. Snipers and Sydney Snipers can appear with the Razorback equipped.

It is important to take these robots out, as if left unchecked, they can take out your teammates easily. Have a lone class go and take out the Snipers once they appear.

Robot Spies behave much like a human Spy would, sapping Engineer buildings, backstabbing players, cloaking, disguising, and using their Knife in close quarters, you know, Just Spy things. Unlike other robots, the Spy bots spawn where the players aren't looking, opposed to on the map's normal spawn points. Spy bots are almost always used as support, never attempting to pick up the bomb. In a few missions, though, they appear as a normal part of the wave, and will go for the bomb if necessary, defending themselves with their Revolvers if intercepted by players.
A notification is always shown when Spies enters the map, and their entrance is announced by the Administrator. Killing all Spies will have the Administrator announce that they are all dead.

Spies will usually appear around players, so be sure to check whether teamates are Spies once they enter. If they have the element of surprise, they will kill you, however they are fairly easy to kill. If they enter the map, be sure to keep your guard up.

Giant Robots, like a mentioned earlier, are larger versions of robots that appear usually by themselves (some with normal Medics). What differientates normal robots from giants is that:

• They have a red background on the HUD
  
• They have much more health (usually 10x as much) than regular robots
  
• They are always 75% larger
  
• Their heads are smaller
  
• They usually move a lot slower than normal robots
  
• They cannot be one-hit killed by backstabs
  
• They are not slowed down by the bomb and don't recieve buffs
  
• They are knockback resistant
  
• And that if you hover over them, a small health bar will appear over their heads

As well as this, most giants have different stats than regular robots, meaning that they are willing to put up a fight before they die.
Giants need to be taken out be the entire team, as if you don't, you will fail.

Giant Scouts are the weakest amoungst all the Giants, usually having less than 1600 health. However to make up for this, they move at the same speed as a regular Scout (and considering that are not slowed down by the bomb, that's very bad).


Despite the Super Scouts silly appearance, this robot is no laughing matter. The Super Scout is the fastest robot in the game, moving at a much faster pace than the regular Scout robots, which can outstrip any other robots or players. They are not dangerous in combat or particularly durable but they can very quickly deliver the bomb and end a round against unprepared teams. It is important to take them out as quickly as possible.
Be sure to slow it down using Jarate or Mad Milk, or use another slowing-down item like Natascha or the Rocket-Specialist to allow your teammates to take it out quickly.


This is a bigger, badder version of the Minor League Scout, with the same loadout, though the Major League Scout can shoot his baseballs more often, hitting a ball every three seconds or so. The Major League Scout moves at the same speed as its smaller counterparts, and while it is not quite as fast as the Super Scout, the Major League Scout can often be the cause of a round failure, considering its speed and ability to stun players.
Again, try to slow it down and take it out as quickly as possible, and try not to get into its stunning range of death.

Another variant of the Sandman Scouts, the Armoured version is probably the toughest you'll face. With 2x the health of a regular Giant Scouts, these stunning monstrosities are harder to take out, but don't move as fast as normal Scouts. They also have a much faster baseball fire rate, and can lock you into a stunned limbo if you're not careful.
Output as much damage as possible to take out this robot, and try to slow it down. Even if it moves 25% slower than regular Scouts, it still moves faster than most giants and will get to the bomb hatch quickly.

These Giant Jumping Scouts are just jumping versions of the Major League Scouts. It is even more dangerous than its smaller counterpart, combining the ability to jump higher than normal with a faster ball recharge rate, and their significantly higher damage. They can also kill unweary players with their increased damage, so a player who doesn't have crit resistance can be unwittingly killed. They can also easily jump to higher areas to dodge enemy fire, so they should be treated with caution. Slow them down and try to kill them quickly.


These giant Scouts are practically the same as their smaller counterparts, and should be approached the same way too. Be sure to slow it down and try to take it out as quickly as possible (when it is not invincible of course). Remember that it can Bonk again sooner if given the opportunity, so take it out as soon as possible.

Giant Force-A-Nature Scouts are just an enlarged version of the Force-A-Nature Scout. However, due to their larger size and health, they should be treated with more caution. They have much more knockback power than the normal Force-A-Nature Scouts, easily knocking players back to pass by them and get the bomb to the hatch. Try to slow it down and kill it quickly.

Giant Soldiers have much health than other giant robots, and usually have super-powered rocket launchers to accopany them, making them very dangerous. However, they move 50% slower than normal Soldiers, which may be their biggest weakness.


Giant Soldiers are not that dangerous. Even thought they have massively increased health, their weapon stats are still the same, so you should not have that much trouble dealing with them. Just output a lot of damage.


Equipped with the Original, Giant Charged Soldiers always fire critical rockets. The rockets move more slowly though, at half the speed of regular rockets, and can be easily dodged by wary players. Combined with the slower fire rate of its Rocket Launcher, it is just as tough as the regular Giant Soldier.

Giant Rapid-Fire Soldiers fire rockets continuously, at a faster rate than regular Giant Soldiers. In their combined waves of rockets, they can easily kill players. Though their rockets move more slowly, be sure to try and avoid their rockets at all cost by dodging them and try to kill them efficiently. Use Uber canteens of you need to.

The Burst Fire Soldier will shoot a flurry of rockets which can easily kill any player. You should be aware of when it's firing and when it's reloading; an unaware and unattentive player will likely be killed quickly.
A second type of Burst Fire Soldier has a slightly slower fire rate than the first, but deals double damage and is permananlty crit-boosted. These versions should be faced with more caution.
Try to take out these robots while they are reloading their clips, which is when they can't attack, but hide behind cover if you need to. Use Uber canteens as well in the face of fire.

These giants are esentially the same as the regular Banner Soldiers, but have increased health. Taking out these robots should not be that much of a problem, but be sure to use the same tactics as the normal types (like not critting the Backup ones). However, they can be seen buffing their fellow robots (normal and giants alike) so take priority and kill them first.

Damn limit on the sections! Anyway...

Essentially, these giants are mini-bosses (even having their own unique name), having stronger airblast resistance and health regeneration, and have a crazy powerful rocket launcher as well. Their main method of fire is to shoot a barrage of 30 rockets at a time that have increased damage and are very close together, but move quite slowly. They can be very difficult to dodge, so be sure to use Uber canteens and shields if nessesary. Although this barrage can be devestating, the giant is extremely vunerable when reloading, which takes a while due to their huge clip. Take the same precautions as burst fire Soldiers.

These Black Box giants are probably the toughest Giant Soldiers you will face. As well as having more health than a regular giant, these robots can also heal 25% of their health on hit (and if they manage to hit all 3 of their shots on a teammate, thats 75%) making them extremely difficult to take out, especially if they are paired up with Medics. They are not of any threat, so be sure to use crit canteens and other means to take this robot out as quickly as possible and dodge their healing rockets.

Combining the terror of Giant Burst-Fire Soldiers and regular Blast Soldiers, Giant Blast Soldiers are the WORST enemy in MvM of all time! As well as having an decent damage output, these robots can also knock around players, making it almost impossible to hit. Combining that with it's crazy 80% faster reload rate, this robot can constantly knock around and kill players without hassle.
To deal with it, try using Uber canteens to avoid getting hurt, attack it only when it is reloading (which is a small oppertunity) or try taking it out at long range. This robot is horrifying to deal with, and is a major pain if you are not prepared.

Giant Pyros are the least threatening giant robots to deal with, having the second-lowest average health, a slow movement speed, and a overral lack of any powerful weapons. Its basically a Pyro with a health pool of 3000.


These giants act the same way as their smaller counterparts, and should be treated the same way (deal lots of damage and stand back). However, on certain missions, they can appear constantly firing their Flamethrowers, or even crit-boosted, so take caution with those Giant Pyros.


These Giant Pyros can fire flares at long range targets. Their faster firing speed allows them to be somewhat rapid-fire, firing constant shots at players. However, they lack any real damage, and only wields the Detonator (which only mini-crits burning enemies) and do not have the ability to detonate their shots. Just kill it without any trouble.

Giant Demomen (like Giant Soldiers) usually have a lot of firepower in which they can deal massive damage to players, making them difficult to deal with. However, they do have a few weaknesses.


Giant Rapid-Fire Demomen, like their Soldier counterparts, fire grenades at a continuous and faster rate than regular Demomen. There are two types, the first I mentioned fires at a rapid rate, while the other fires even faster but has to reload and has less health. Each one can be hard to deal with, but use uber canteens if nessesary and you should be fine.

Anyone who has gone through a wave with 40 Giant Demos knows the pain...


Giant Burst-Fire Demomen (again, like their Soldier counterparts) fire an immense amount of grenades in short bursts, which can kill unweary players. Use the same strategy with the B-F Soldiers, by attacking while the robot is reloading and using Uber canteens if nessesary.


One of the weaker Giant Demo varients, the Giant Demoknight uses a melee weapon and decapatates people unlucky to get within range. Be sure to output a lot of damage and stay away from it at close range.

Giant Heavies are the most bulky, and most dangerous of all the giant MvM robots. Their Miniguns can take out even the most resistance-upgraded players in a couple of seconds, and are usually paired up with Medics to make them even more terrifying. Their biggest weakness, however, is that unlike other robots, they can't see as far to detect players and move the slowest out of all giants.


With Giant Heavies, even though they wielf the stock Minigun, are very tough and hard to deal with. They wield an overclocked Minigun that deals 50% more damage, and like I said, can kill bullets-resistance players without too much trouble. Keep your distance, Uber if nessesary and dish out as much damage as you can.


The Giant Deflector Heavy is almost exactly the same as a regular Giant Heavy, having the same stats and bonuses. However, the fact that they can shoot down projectiles like their smaller counterparts make them that little bit more deadlier. The shooting down projectiles attribute isn't too much of a hassle, so take the exact same approach you would with a normal Giant Heavy.


Giant Heater Heavies, again, are almost the exact same threat level of a regular Giant Heavy, however, they lack the colossal damage bonus that the original posseses. Instead, their strengths lie in their close range heater rings, which ignite any players within suitable distance, and that they can see in unlimited range. The heater ring shouldn't be much of a problem, so take the same precautions as before.

Like their smaller derpy counterparts, Giant Shotgun Heavies rely on a huge amount of pellets being blown into peoples faces in order to kill. Their massive amount of bullets and their mid-range effectiveness make them somewhat tougher against their minigun-wielding counterparts. They also move faster that regular Giant Heavies. Stay back, dish out damage and Uber if nessesary.


The Heal-on-Kill Heavies share the same projectile destruction property as Deflector Heavies (albeit, they are better at it than they are), and have the added ability to restore almost all of their health upon a successful kill. This makes them an extremely deadly force to deal with, though fortunately, their Minigun deals less damage than regular Giant Heavies and they move somewhat slower. Try not to get killed by them (like avoiding Giant Black Box Soldier fire) and take the same strategies as before.

As any experienced MvM player would tell you, Giant Medics are the very bane of everyone's existence. If you though Uber Medics were bad, then these guys are your worst nightmare. As well as having obnoxiously high health, these Medics heal ridiculously fast, as their Quick-Fixes are overclocked stupidly.


Giant Medics heal their patients (always a Giant Robot) at 200x the heal rate of the any Medigun, fast enough to instantly outheal any kind of damage the players can inflict, basically making their heal targets invincible. It spawns with a full Übercharge meter, and has a considerable amount of health, second only to Giant Heavies. When the Giant Medic is heavily damaged (living at around 54hp), it will deploy its Ubercharge, completely refilling its health and essentially becoming indestructible until the charge is finished, so then you have to kill it AGAIN!!! This makes them extremely annoying and almost impossible to kill, so be sure to take it out extremely quickly by using crit canteens.


This second variant of Giant Medic is easier and much more forgiving to kill than their regular Ubercharge varients. Instead of an Ubercharge, these Medics will regenerate 40 health a second to try and stay alive. Of course, it still makes its heal target invicible, but they are easier to deal with. Again, kill it quickly.

Gatebots are a special type of robot that appear only on Mannhattan. They are identified by their yellow glowing heads, can appear either as normal or giant robots and have the same icons of their regular counterparts.


All of the glowing robot light heads.

Instead of focusing on the bomb and delivering it to the hatch, these robots will instead try to capture the two gates located in the map (in order of course).


Gate A on the map.


Gate B on the map.

Once the gatebots capture a gate, all normal robots will become temporarily stunned for 20 seconds, and will gain temporary crits afterwards. gates captured will move the robots spawn up from where it was originally, and adds another bomb to the map for players to worry about. After all the gates on the map are captured, all of the gatebot light heads will switch off, and they will focus on the bomb like regular robots.

It is important to focus on gatebots as well as normal robots, as they can become a problem once they open the gates up and move their spawn up, leaving less and less room for your team to defend. What's worse though, is that you cannot recapture gates. So basically, just kill them all.

Sentry Busters, unlike other MvM support robots, are special robots that appear in all missions of MvM (but spawn times differ from missions) and are created solely to take out Engineer Sentries. The Administrator will announce when it arrives and dies, and an icon on the HUD will appear to let you know. Sentry Busters will run towards the sentries, and blow themselves up to take the sentry down with it! And what's worse, is that if there are multiple Engineers on the team, there will be multiple Sentry Busters!

Sentry Busters can be extremely difficult to deal with if people who don't know what to do against it, but attentive players do. They target sentries solely, and have no interest in other players. Some strategies can involve:

• Moving the sentry before the Sentry Buster blows up
  
• Having you and your teammates destroy the Sentry Buster before it reaches the sentry
  
• Moving the sentry towards the Sentry Buster to blow it up early

But be careful! Sentry Busters have a big explosion radius that can instantly kill nearby players, so warn your teammates when it is about to blow up. But use this to your advantage! Sentry Busters can also kill fellow robots when they explode, which can help out immensly in battle.

No, it isn't. The Sentry Buster is actually a reskinned Giant Demoman wielding the Ullapool Caber and programmed to target and blow up Sentries. They can even be headshotted!


Here is the Sentry Buster's hitbox.

Well. The more you know.

Tanks are essentially grinding in MvM, forcing players to constantly damage it in order to destroy them. They carry no weapons (but can crush players between walls), and can take an extreme amount of damage before they are destroyed, far more so than any other normal robot.
The Administrator announces the entrance, progress, and destruction of each tank. Tanks have their own bomb inside them, and will deploy it if it manages to reach the bomb hatch. Tanks move quite slowly, but if not dealt with properly, they can generate a whole lot of trouble. This also means at times players will have to focus their fire on Tanks and bomb-carrying robots alike.


A Tank Icon. It is usually surrounded in red.

Tanks also have special attributes to them, which makes them harder to take out than other robots. They:

• Cannot be slowed down or stopped
  
• Cannot burn, bleed or be covered in Mad Milk or Jarate
  
• Do not give Uber or metal from the Ubersaw and Widowmaker respectively
  
• Cannot be sapped, marked for death, headshot or backstabbed
  
• Cannot give health to players with heal-on-hit abilities (active Concherer, Black Box, etc...)
  
• Take 75% less damage from miniguns

Tanks have a massive amount of health, and usually varies (depending on the mission) and can have anything from 10,000 to 60,000hp! I won't list all the tanks health on individual missions, but you can see most of them here.
Also, when there are Tanks active, a health bar will appear on the HUD which displays the Tanks health. A tank will also appear more damaged over time, along with the hits it has taken.


A Tank's healh bar on the HUD.

Here is just a quick guide on some strategies you use with all of the classes on taking out tanks.
NOTE: This is just MY opinion, so I may be wrong on some parts.


Tank Priority: Low
Damage vs. Tanks: Medium

If you do play Scout, you should be focused on other things than taking out the tank, as collecting money and killing stray robots are more important than dealing damage to the tank. However, a good upgraded Scattergun can be extremely helpful as it can deal 360 crit-boosted damage shots.


Tank Priority: High
Damage vs. Tanks: High

Soldiers are excellent damage dealers against tanks. Their high damage output rocket launchers can deal up to 540 damage a shot! (critboosted of course.) As well as this, Buff Banner Soldiers can quickly gain charge on their banners if they hurt the tank constantly, but remember to tell you teammates to not use critboost canteens, as your banner blow will end up being wasted. However, Soldier's may want to take on groups of robots rather than the tank if your teammates are attacking the monstrocity.


Tank Priority: High
Damage vs. Tanks: High

As an unwritten rule by God, W+M1 Pyros are essential for taking out large groups of tanks. Their holyness, powered by high-damage, costant-fire flamethrowers, the holy Pyro is God's hero against tanks. They can be further powerful, with their amazing crit-boost canteens, which triples their power, and makes them invincible. But one legend carried out about a certain Phlog Pyro that will rise up and save humanity from the evil tank scurge.


Tank Priority: High
Damage vs. Tanks: High

The Demoman's high damage output arsenal is great for destoying tanks. Either with his Grenade or Stickybomb Launcher, he can blow a tank to smithereens if the tides are in his favour. Like Soldier, his high damage output allows him do do some serious work, and with the fact that he has 2 weapons that he can work with at once makes him a great asset for killing tanks.
Well, I might as well talk about the Demoknight as well. Although the Demoknight should be more focused on beheading robots, his melee allows for some serious damage to be done to the tank, and can help immensly to taking it out.


Tank Priority: Low
Damage vs. Tanks: Medium

As mentioned before, the Heavy's Minigun is nerfed immensly against tanks, making him an average damage dealer (somewhat compairable to Pyro.) Even with a crit-boosted Brass Beast, point blank shots only deal 32 damage each. So, Heavies should be focused on just the bomb and any robots that could be a serious threat to the team, but if there is nothing else to do, you might as well put some lead into the tank.


Tank Priority: Medium
Damage vs. Tanks: High

The Engineer should be focused more on his buildings rather than the tank, as he is the backbone of the team, by supplying ammo and killing stray robots. However, in terms of damage output, an Engineer with a sentry and upgraded Shotgun can be a big help to the team when taking out the tank. But if you have not upgraded your primary, your Wrench can be just as good at dealing damage, especially of you have fire rate upgraded.


Tank Priority: Medium
Damage vs. Tanks: Low

Medics themselves are not really the best at destroying tanks. Sure, if you use your projectile shield to hurt the tank, you are just damaging it slightly. Instead, heal any wounded teammates and revive anyone to help your team out. However, if you have the Kritzkreig, crit-boost your teammates in order to maximize their damage output. Of course, coordinate with your team to make sure anyone is not wasting crit-boost canteens.
Of course, knowing who to critboost can be hard to decide, but use this order of crit-boost priority:
Demoman (highest damage), Pyro (highest continuous damage), Sniper (with Sniper Rifle), Soldier (uses Buff Banner), Phlog Pyro (crit-boosts by himself), Heavy (low continuous damage), Scout (with Scattergun), Engineer (focuses on sentry), Spy (low damage) and fellow Medics (lowest damage)
Another strategy to Medic is, if you have upgraded canteen specialist, use it to crit-boost a teammate, then use your melee to damage the tank with the crits as well! The reason this works is because you don't have to keep healing your teammate in order for the critboost to stay. You just need to use the canteen when you are healing them!


Tank Priority: High
Damage vs. Tanks: High

Surprisingly, Snipers are extremely good at doing damage to tanks. With upgraded reload speed, damage and ammo capacity, Snipers can deal some hefty 100 damage shots to tanks. Add crit-boost canteens to that, and you have 300 damage shots being dealt from any range. If you don't have crit-boost canteens or are low on ammo, and you are on a high money mission, using an upgraded fire-rate melee is your best bet. And if you have the Bushwacka with a Buff Banner Soldier around, consider 195 crit swings to be your saviour.

WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK... Oh wait... Sorry Tesla Coil...


Tank Priority: Low
Damage vs. Tanks: Low

Saying this upfront, Spies are the worst at helping destroying tanks. Sure, you can butterknife and shoot tanks all you want, but you will always be the worst. Cash Spies should be collecting any money that is around, and agressive Spies should be focusing on killing robots. If you want to help out, have a revolver with upgraded fire speed and clip size. Otherwise, steer clear and let other classes take out the tank.

First appearing in the Mecha Engie update, boss robots are more massive and deadly robots with health that can match a tanks, and have super-powered weapons. A health bar appears when a boss is active (similarly to a tanks) which shows how much health it has left. Otherwise, they have the same attributes as giant robots. Let's take a look at these monsters.

Sergeant Crits is a Giant Soldier that appears on the Broken Parts mission on Bigrock. His large health pool of 60,000HP means that he can trudge his way along Bigrock, destroying any defenders that stand in his way with his crit-boosted burst-fire Rocket Launcher. Players will also have to constantly attack him since he regenerates 250 health a second, meaning that your going to have to deal constant damage to even affect him. However, Jarate and Mad Milk can slow him down, and gives your teammates an advantage against him. Medics with the projectile shield are also very good.

It is important to have equipment like Minigun and Buff Banner rage ready before the wave starts, as any damage you do will only give you 10% of your rage you would gain from normal robots.

Assisting him is Sergeant Crits own personal army of Spies and Snipers, with 10 Spies coming out at once. They appear 5 seconds in when he spawns, so have someone constantly spy-check around. Snipers also appear 6 at a time, and while not as bad as the Spies, can bodyshot you and kill you at low health.

A good strategy to take is to have all classes refund their upgrades and support classes to switch to damage-dealing classes (e.g. Spies and Scouts switching to Heavy or Soldier). Using the refund, if you max your your primary, buy full crit and blast resistance, as the Sergeant can kill any unweary players instantly. Also buy some Uber canteens (or crit canteens if you can survive well) just in case.

Down below is a video by ikustorm fighting Sergeant Crits.

Captain Punch is Bigrocks second local boss, appearing at the end of the second advanced mission. Although he does look more menacing than Sergeant Crits, he is less of a threat to deal with, as this particular boss robot is restricted to melee range, meaning that he has to get up close and personal in order to kill players. However, this does not mean he is not a total pushover. Wielding the FIsts of Steel, Captain Punch takes 40% less damage from ranged sources, and topped up with his 60,000HP health pool its not that hard for him to make it to the bomb hatch. Captain Punch is more vunerable to melee damage though, but with his overpowered one-hit kill fists, its very hard to get close without having your face pounded in.

Use refund upgrades in order to max out your ranged weapons, and save some money for critboost canteens. Switch from weaker classes to stronger classes as well, and try not to get close. The main strategy you want to take here is to just stand back and fire as much damage as possible to kill him.

Again, like Sergeant Crits, the Captain also has an army of Spies and Snipers at his disposal, spawing in the same amount of numbers at the same intervals. Again, have someone take care of them.

One strategy you can use to take care of him quickly is for someone to go Spy and max out your knife. As Captain Punch takes more melee damage, each backstab does around 2000 damage! If you have your teamate distract him, you can get a couple of good backstabs done in!

Down below is a video by A Very Patient Player displaying that the Captain is one of the easiest boss robots to beat in MvM (with the right tactics.)

HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN FALCON WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU.


Captain Falcon is disappointed.

Appearing at the end of the latest Decoy mission, Major Bomber is an extremely powerful and dangerous robot. While he is weaker than most bosses, he is no pushover. Wielding a 12-shot crit-boosted Grenade Launcher, he fires a flurry of grenades in your face to kill you and your teammates. While they deal no more damage than regular grenades, they can be deadly as stray grenades can kill unweary players. He also can focus certain players, as his grenade launcher does not have a weapon spread penalty.

Again, refund and buy important upgrades as damage-dealing classes, and save some money for critboost canteens. It is also important to buy crit and blast resistance as well.

Whats interesting about Major Bomber is that he does not appear until 30 seconds into the wave, but instead has support Engineer bots build sentry guns to help kill the defending players. This could be said about the Scouts as well, but they are not as dangerous as sentry guns. It is very important that players not only focus on Major Bomber, but the Engineer bots as well, as their sentry guns can aid the boss in killing players.

Down below is a video by PichuGames showing the Boss fight and the importance of those Engie bots.

At the end of Hamlet Hostilities Wave 6 is Sir Nukesalot. As the name suggests, this robot has a habit of nuking everything in sight. Wielding a Loose Cannon with a 600% damage bonus and critboost, this robot can make mince meat of players standing in this robots path. Rather than relying on direct damage, this robot relies on indirect methods of stopping players, using its dangerous cannonballs of doom and the smokescreens it creates with said explosions. But other than that, this robot will just trudge along to the bomb hatch.

Unlike most bosses, one cannot simply prepare for this boss effectively, as it appears at the end of a normal wave of robots. However, this shouldn't be a big issue (though blast resistance is reccomended.)

Sir Nukesalot doesn't have any real "support" robots, with only the regular Spy and Engineer support robots appearing regularly, like the wave was before.

Down below is a video by Meghan Buckner showing the Boss fight.

While I did say that Blast Soldiers are one of the most annoying MvM enemies of all time, the Chief Blast Soldier is kinda wimpy for a boss. Appearing twice on Mannhattans missions, this boss shares its weapon attributes with the regular Giant Blast Soldiers, so it is kinda bad. It doesn't really deal any major damage, as the Liberty Launcher does no damage, but it is proficient at knocking enemies around and being super annoying (like I mentioned before). However, it can only knock enemies around so much to assist it getting to the bomb hatch. There's not really much to this robot, so be sure to take it out quickly.

Down below is a video by kharnak crux fighting a Chief Blast Soldier.

Essentially a boss version of Colonel Barrage, this robot sports a larger amount of health than its predessesor, as well as having more firepower in terms of a larger damage bonus and permanent crits. Although he does appear as a regular giant in Empire Escalation, he becomes more bulky in Metro Malice. He fires a barrage of crit-boosted rockets at your team, which can kill if you are unprepared.

In Escalation, he is also accompanied by a Giant Regen Medic, which can keep him alive for much longer than regular giant robots as well as being assisted by Heavy robots, while in Malice he has Giant FAN Scouts appear 37 seconds in to push the bomb. In both cases, its important to focus these support bots as well since they can be a lot of trouble. Remember to buy crit and blast resistance yet again.

Being the only MvM boss that wields a Minigun, this Chief Heavy is definitely a threat. While he only has a 20% damage bonus on his Minigun, this boss has the most health out of anything in MvM, and can tank up to 70,000 damage, as well as having the ability to heal 8000 health on a successful kill, which makes this robot extremely bulky. However, outputting enough damage can easily kill this boss, so just consider it a tank with a Minigun. Use crit canteens and destroy it quickly, and be sure not to stand too close when you're low on HP.

This robot is also supported by Concherer Soldiers, which can help this boss recover even more health than it possibly can, so its important to take out the Soldiers as well as the boss. There is also a group of Giant FAN Scouts that appear 42 seconds into the wave, so be sure to take those pests out before they can capture any gates.

In terms of preperation (since its the last wave in the mission), be sure to have lighter classes to switch to damage-dealing classes like Heavy and Soldier, as well as refunding. Bullet resistance is crucial in this wave so be sure to max out that. Otherwise, buy crit canteens and you're good to go.

Below is a video by Volva showcasing a fight with this boss (with a fairly silly but viable strategy.)

I hope you all learned a lot from this guide. I'll be sure to update any information as Team Fortress 2 and Mann vs Machine continues to evolve and grow (if it ever comes to that.) I'll be sure to read your comments and feedback to see what I can improve on in this guide.

But as always, I hoped you guys learned something new, and you put your new knowledge of MvM to the test in battle. Good luck out there!

As with anything, I'd like to thank the following:

• The Team Fortress 2 Wiki for supplying images and some trivial information for the guide
  
• Zepavil[zepavil.deviantart.com] for the MvM "Meet the Team" artwork
  
• Tesla Coil for inspiring this guide and that one joke
  
• Eye for reminding me for some missed info
  
• ikustorm, A Very Patient Player, PichuGames, Meghan Buckner, kharnak crux and Volva for making videos on the MvM bosses
  
• Valve for making Team Fortress 2 and Mann vs Machine
  
• Nintendo for making Super Smash Bros

Thanks for reading!