Team Fortress 2 – MvM– Only the Essentials

Basics

The objective of MvM is to stop the robots from getting the bomb to your spawn. 
 
 
It has x-ray, you can always see where this little bastard is, and if a robot is carrying it. If you see a robot pick it up, kill it as soon as you can. 
 
The upcoming wave can be viewed at the top of your screen, before it starts (red boxes are giant robots, blue outlines are crit bots). 
 
In this example, there are 6 Giant Soldiers, 10 Giant Scouts, 112 Demoknights, 6 Uber medics, and an indefinite number of Sniper bots to support. This preview does not tell you the order the bots are coming in. 
If you have a custom HUD, the game will show you how many bots are left while the wave is active, the vanilla HUD only shows you the bots that are currently being sent out to you. (Visit http://www.huds.tf for a great selection of custom HUDS) 
 
Money is also very, very important in MvM. It buys the upgrades that make the missions completable at all, and there is a direct correlation between the amount of money lost and how hard it will be to finish off a mission (citation needed). You should help the Scout with collection when convenient. Not all robots drop money, but most of them do, pay attention for the money drop if you’ve killed a robot far away from your team. 
 
 
Your upgrades are fully refundable except canteens and you can upgrade according to a wave. (Ex. You notice there are an awful lot of explosive bots incoming so you buy explosive resistance.) 
 
 
 
THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO CRACK MVM EGGS 
 
 
 

Class Roles, Upgrade and Loadout Suggestions

Let me preface by saying these upgrades are suggested from my limited experience, and added input from higher tour players that know MvM well. 
 
None of these suggestions are set in stone, but if you choose to deviate from them, for whatever reason, please, please, please, ask your team if they are okay with you doing X thing. A lot of the higher tour players are playing for the drops, and as long as you’re in a co-op game mode you should try your best to cooperate. I said there is more than one way to crack the MvM eggs and I stand by that, but if you’re going to queue into an MvM lobby trying to reinvent the wheel (and oftentimes making the missions a total slog while doing so), or have already reinvented said wheel in bootcamp and are now trying to spread your gospel, please do so with at least 2 other friends. It’s not unreasonable for someone to not want to indulge you when their only goal is to complete tours. 
 
With that out of the way, here are some decent starting points for contributing in Mann-Up mode. 
 
Scout – Money collection, Tank Bustage (This is primary specific, and also should really only be done on last waves, money takes absolute priority) 
 
 
Scout has money float around him and into his pockets as he runs near it, no other class can pick up money so easily (all others have to run directly over it), and thus Scout is designated money-picker-upper by the game, and not just the community. Loadouts will include Mad Milk, and the Fan o’ War, nothing else is mandatory. 
Even if the milk does not have the slow upgrade on it the healing is invaluable for your teammates, which is why I dislike scouts that pick bonk for personal survival generally. 
 
Movement speed, Jump Height, and the slow effect on mad milk are scouts best upgrades, if you have trouble avoiding attacks with that level of mobility, resistances work well on scout as collected money overheals you, I would still recommend at least one jump height upgrade for clearing giant robots. 
 
=== 
 
Soldier – Damage assistance, Riff Raff Patrol (Riff Raff being Support bots like Sniper Bots, Spy Bots, and Engineer Bots), Tank Bustage 
 
 
Loadouts will include Conch or Buff banner most often, Stock Rocket, Black Box, or Beggars Bazooka. (Honorable mention for the Airstrike and its tank shredding abilities) 
 
Maxed reload speed, then 1 Rocket Specialist are stellar upgrades for Soldier, crit canteens are good for tanks. 
 
=== 
 
Pyro – Crowd Control (particularly groups of Uber meds), Riff Raff Patrol, Tank Bustage 
 
 
Loadouts will include Stock Flamethrower or Phlog (backburner is probably fine with ammo upgrades), Gas Passer if you are committed to crowd control, otherwise the scorch shot is a good flare gun, and the jetpack gives pyro great mobility. Equip the homewrecker if you are a true bro and you notice your Engies buildings getting sapped. 
 
His best upgrades are to his flamethrower: Damage and ammo capacity. 
 
=== 
 
Demo – Damage Assistance, Crowd Control, Tank Bustage to a lesser extent. 
 
 
Loadouts will include a Scottish Resistance ideally, the stickybomb launcher is servicable, but certain traps will be harder to deploy. Demo enjoys Reload Speed and Damage on his secondary for good upgrades. You can forego damage for resistances if you have trouble staying alive, your medic killing abilities are more important than your theoretical min maxed damage. 
 
=== 
 
Heavy – Damage Assistance 
 
 
Loadouts will include a Minigun or Brass Beast. Firing speed into one penetration are heavies ticket into beaucoup damage. 
 
The minigun does 80% less damage to tanks, do not shoot tanks unless there are actually zero other viable targets. 
 
=== 
 
Engineer – Damage Assistance, Building Support 
 
 
Loadouts will include the Rescue Ranger, the Wrangler, and the Stock Wrench. Upgrades will begin with maxed dispenser range no matter what (of all the things that people say you “must” do in MvM, max dispenser range as your first upgrade is without question, ABSOLUTELY VITAL) 
afterwards Building Health and Metal Capacity at equal paces. Building Upgrade canteens are invaluable, I always keep 3. 
 
=== 
 
Medic – Damage Assistance, Healing, Revivals. 
 
 
Loadouts will include a Kritzkrieg most of the time, and an Ubersaw. Upgrades are: Projectile shield, Uber Duration (specifically if you’re rocking the Kritzkrieg), and canteen specialist, which shares your canteen effects with your heal target, and discounts their price at the Upgrade Station. 
 
Honorable mention to Ahuman, a player I met one time on Expert, who played Quick-Fix med with a buddy of his (also Quick-Fix med), spamming projectile shields, spamming revives, and outdamaging 2 Heavies while doing it. 
 
Like I said, there are more than one ways to crack the MvM egg. And this will forever be my favorite example of classes being more capable than the established meta will give them credit for. (We still ended up losing twice that mission, and the lobby died subsequently, so it’s also a case for sticking with the meta, because despite the would-be success of the strategy, the losing caused the lobby to die, which isn’t as commonplace on Expert.) 
 
=== 
 
Sniper – Damage Assistance, Crowd Control, Tank Bustage 
 
 
Primaries are down to preference (I prefer the Sydney Sleeper, explosive headshots still work even though the rifle can’t actually score headshots), your secondaries are preferential as well unless you are tank busting, then you need the Cleaners Carbine and a Bushwacka. Regular upgrades will consist of Explosive Headshot and Reload Speed on your rifle. Tank busting upgrades will be copious amounts of swing speed on the Bushwacka. 
 
It’s worth mentioning Sniper is a fairly advanced class, he can outright carry the expert missions, 
or can serve as a huge weight on the team if he is not killing the right bots. 
I don’t recommend playing sniper to start off with in MvM, but if you do, these upgrades are the way to go. 
 
=== 
 
Spy – Medic/Giant Slaying, Money Collection 
 
 
I’m talking out of my depth. Regarding Spy, I only know what I see him do and I’ve never bothered to see what good spies upgrade. I see them use a variety of knives, I see them mostly use the Dead Ringer, and I see them sapping meds to stop them from popping. (If any talented MvM Spy players happen to read this, do leave me a comment so I can suggest actual upgrades!) 
 
Just like sniper, a good Spy can make waves a breeze, and a bad spy will make you wish you were waiting on a 6th player to connect. Familiarize yourself with certain waves to have a gameplan in mind before choosing Spy. 
 
 
 

Parting Words

Now that you understand what the classes are geared for in this unique game mode, and the upgrades that bring the heat, all that’s left is to queue into a game and kill robots! 
 
If you would like to hear me out before you go, here’s a couple more general tips to help you while you’re out there! 
 
Look at your team when you connect, and try to pick a role your team might be lacking in, and avoid redundant choices. (Ex. Multiple crowd control classes can end up fighting for crowds to control and focused damage will be lacking) Let your team know what you are trying to do when picking a class, players that know what they’re doing appreciate knowing what to expect, and they will most often extend a helping hand, and give you great tips for expanding your MvM decision making. In-Game is where most of your real learning will happen. 
 
High tour count players can have a reputation for being… “impatient.” But I’ve never met a one completely unwilling to help someone who is responsive and cooperative. 
 
Lets make MvM a great place! Good luck on your missions and your drops! 
 
 
 

I hope you enjoy the Guide we share about Team Fortress 2 – MvM– Only the Essentials; if you think we forget to add or we should add more information, please let us know via commenting below! See you soon!