The demo is an absolutely devastating class when played well and should be considered a regular for any competitive team. They excel both in offensive strikes and defensive stakeouts and will find themselves topping most other classes. For the average player the demo will feel a little odd when first played but the sacrifice of learning them has a huge payout.
The demo’s weapons consist of two grenade launchers and a glass bottle. The first launcher holds 4 grenades that bounce of walls and is the primary tool for offensive attacks. During a defensive position this launcher should be used as a side arm to the second grenade launcher which fires sticky rounds. These sticky grenades are the demo’s ultimate weapon. They can be concealed if placed correctly and can instantly kill any enemy if more than 4 are placed. This weapon takes the most skill to master but in turn offers the most reward. The final weapon, a glass bottle, renders itself as a melee weapon and does average damage to an opponent.
Notes about the demo’s weapons: Both grenade launchers do splash damage however the first launcher is much less effective unless it takes a direct hit.
Demo health is fairly high and can withstand a short barrage of bullets before dying. Turrets should never be faced directly like any other class but demos tend to have more of a window to take fire and flee than say, a scout or medic. Heavies can also cause demos trouble and require at least 3-4 stickies to kill. Scouts, while being weak and vulnerable to the high rate of splash damage from stickies, can be a huge annoyance to demos who have little defense once someone crosses the sticky barricade. Be sure to couple your defenses with a soldier or close range combatant to help ward of scouts and breached enemies. The final class to be aware of is snipers who will target demos who plant their stickies from a stationary position.
Demo strategy is fairly simple but requires patience, timing and knowledge of the maps. Their primary objective as discussed above is defensive planting with the sticky grenade launcher. Areas like door ways, capture points, and rail cars are all great places to defend but even the corner of a hallway and a ceiling can be useful. Know where your enemies are and which ways they can come and be ready to detonate. The secondary objective demos face is offensive strikes. The best strategy for demos is to get the high ground and launch stickies into well traversed areas. If this isn’t possible, stick with the pack and use the normal grenades as backup fire until you can get into position. Remember it’s never wise to get impatient and run ahead of the group into a defenseless position. The final and sometimes most important objective a demo will have is engineer clearing. This is when a fully charged medic ubers a demo to rush turrets, dispensers and teleporters. All demos should know that by choosing this class they must be ready to take down engi-groupings whenever necessary. To successfully pull this off there are a couple rules to follow. First is don’t panic when you get ubered. Relax, make sure you’re loaded and rush out. Rule two is: ignore random enemies. It is not worth the seconds of uber time killing them as it is to wipe out turrets. The third rule is to plant stickies intelligently. If you have 8 fully loaded rounds, make sure 4 land at each turret. If you can take out two turrets your job is done, just flick to the normal grenades and die fighting or run like hell. If there is only one turret, plant 4 at the base and the rest around that area. Many players will congregate at dispensers and teleporters and it’s almost guaranteed those are near the turret. Launch your 8 and detonate (sorry for the rhyme).
I recommend 1 demo per 5 players unless there is an excess of engineers on the other team, in which more are probably needed.
Tip 1: As a demo, you should pretty much always have 8 stickies laid down somewhere or another. When entering unfamiliar territory, such as an enemy base, set some down at the entrance before advancing. This way if you encounter enemies, you have a point to fall back to. This helps to offset the fact that demos are not particularly good at close range or against moving targets such as scouts.
Tip 2: Uber Stalling – Demos can use their stickies not only to kill and defend but also to stop prevailing uber charges. By launching a couple rounds and detonating in quick succession you can juggle or blow back enemies away from your team mates and engineer buildings.