Tanking is an art made into practice, something that revolves around taking more damage than you should be able to and still kicking the opponent's ass. While most is this is based on simple skills, i.e. dodging, knowing where health packs are, damage surfing, etc., there are loadouts you can use that are best suited to not dying.

For those of you who are wanting to tank, you're most likely thinking of the Heavy, and with good reason. With the highest base health in the game, the Heavy is all about soaking up damage and still pushing, but even the hardy hoovy needs a little help surviving.

I've found that the best Tanking loadout for the Heavy is this:
-Natascha
-Dalokohs Bar
-Fists of Steel

This Heavy is all about lasting where others couldn't, being able to buy precious time for the rest of the team.

The Natascha is a very capable weapon, and while it has 20% damage decrease and 30% increased spin-up time, it provides 20% damage resistance when your health is halved, and then there's the bread and butter of the Natashca: slowing down opponents on hit. On hit, the opponents are reduced to a crawl, allowing you to keep a stream on them and mow the poor soul down. This is important to tanking because the Natascha puts a stop to all pursuit. While all miniguns do insane damage at close range, the Natascha does this while keeping them at a safer distance from you. The slowing effect has saved me from Pyros and fellow Hoovies many, many times. In addition, if your health gets cut to 50%, you begin automatically blocking out 20% of damage simply by being spun up, and that allows you to last just that second longer when other Heavies would simply die.

The Dalokohs Bar looses a lot of glory to the Sandvich, and it's easy to see why. The Sandvich can heal 300 HP, making it seem much more useful. However, the Sandvich takes 30 seconds to recharge. You'd have three Dalokohs Bars in that time. While it may be advantagoues to be able to fully restore with the Sandvich, I find that the Dalokohs can be used to be much better. The Dalokohs Bar heals 100 health, but also provides another benefit: Overheal. This essentially allows you to be your own Quick-Fix pocket Medic. While the buff only puts you at a max of 400 HP, that buff gives the just enough to have the advantage on almost everything except a Heavy-Medic combo. The rule of thumb is to keep your health up as much as possible. If you're heading to a fight, chocolate. If you took a little damage, chocolate. If you're not sure if you should call Medic- chocolate. The best part of the Dalokohs is that, if used properly, the Dalokohs allows the Medic to stay free from keeping his Medigun stuck in your rectum, which keeps him able to keep the rest of the team alive. The Dalokohs makes an independent Hoovy, and that's nice for any match. Also, it's perfect for pockets, as the quick recharge and small health pack boost allows you to dump chocolate on your Medigun-wielding friend taking punishment behind you.

P.S. You can also throw the Dalokohs to heal people. Please do that. It's the nice thing to do. Everyone loves chocolate. And not dying.

And, finally, the Fists of Steel. These puppies are meant to be a tool more than a weapon. They will block 60% of all ranged damage, but at the cost of taking 100% more damage to melee and a doubled holstering time. The Fists of Steel are built for absorbing damage and focus fire while praying to God or Gaben that no one pulls out their melee. With the Fists of Steel, it takes 5 pills on direct hit to kill a Heavy. 8 stickies will not kill a Fists of Steel Heavy. This is incredibly impresive as is, but it comes down to this simplicity- it takes more hits to kill. And, the more hits it takes to kill, the more likely it is that they will miss. Now, this doesn't mean you will win against a spun-up Heavy at point-blank. High DPS can still chew through that resistance with ease. But, if you're in a situation where the heat is too much, you can simply pull the Fists out and back the truck up. It's basically a Darwin's Danger Shield for the Heavy. The major disadvantage of the Fists is the melee vulnerability and holstering. Basically, if someone realizes you're using the Fists, they can simply be on you with a melee faster than you can switch and rev up your minigun (Unless, of course, you use the Tomislav or a shotgun). This doesn't make the Fists completely infeasible to use as a weapon. It still does basic fists damage, and will still kill quickly- it just requires more care to use.

Overall, this tank loadout sits to a more independent playstyle that exists to distract, harass, and pick off the enemy while the rest of the team can do their thing. This Heavy is focused on surviving and keeping the enemy wasting ammo and time on a Hoovy who will not die anytime soon. This loadout works best on offense in Payload, where you can tank the cart forward for some hard presses when they are needed, but the application is universal and simple- don't die, and keep shooting.

The Soldier has the second highest base health, and is more of a direct combat class. With that, he tends to take a lot a damage. This loadout intends to help with that.

-The Black Box
-The Battalion's Backup/ The Concheror
-The Escape Plan/Half Zatoichi

The Black Box is obvious. 20 HP gained per hit. It's easy health, if you can aim. On the downside, you get half the clip size, so you have less to work with.

The Battalion's Backup is my preferred out of the Backup and the Concheror. It provides a defensive buff to the team once you get rage, as well as a 20 HP boost to your base health. Combined with the Black Box, this is a solid "Stay-alive Solly". The Concheror is for those who want to be their own Medic. The regeneration of the Concheror and the Black Box serves to make sure any scratches don't last. The speed buff can be helpful to withdraw when needed, but aside from that, doesn't help with tanking.

The Escape Plan is also fairly simple. Once you're low on health, use this to get the hell out of Dodge. You take mini-crits while using it, but it gives you the speed to get out if you know what you're doing. Or, you can try to last stand with the taunt-kill. The Half Zatoichi gives you 50% health AND possibly overheals on a kill, but will damage you if you sheath it without getting a kill. This weapon is more combat viable than the Escape Plan, but without the mobility and escape options.

This Soldier doesn't have a lot of advanced techniques, and the small clip size of the Black Box effectively neutralizes the usefulness of rocket jumping in combat, but it is still pretty useful when used with the team as a simple burst damage push class. Buff the team with defense or speed when it's useful, and make your Black Box shots count. It's not fancy, but it works.

The Demoman doesn't have a lot to work with when it comes to tanking, and it relies mostly around a Demoknight style, but if played right, it works fairly well. This loadout is not a pure Demoknight, but uses the quicker grenade launchers.

-Loose Cannon/Iron Bomber
-Charge'n Targe
-Half Zatoichi/Eyelander/Nessie's Nine Iron/HHH Headtaker

The Loose Cannon and Iron Bomber both have fairly quick fuse time, making them more useful where they need to be deployed quickly. They both have decreased explosion radius, though, so they must be used fairly accurately and direct hits provide the most damage, anyway.

The Charge'n Targe is fairly simple. It provides a 50% resistance to fire and 30% to explosives, meaning that this is best suited to taking on Pyros, Soldiers, and Demos. The Charge also allows you to close distance easily, as well as providing an easy escape. The charge also allows for a shield bash, and makes melee weapons crit near the end of the charge.

The Half Zatoichi provides 50% max health on kill, and also provides overheal. However, if you put it away before getting a kill, you take 50 HP in damage. This weapon requires some skill to use, as sheathing it is costly. But, the payoff for effective use is very good, as the health gain is large. The Eyelander/Nine Iron/Headtaker are also somewhat tricky. They start off with 25 less base health, but each kill adds heads, which boosts the health and speed of the Demoman, capping out at four heads, where the Demo is slightly slower than the Scout, and has 210 health, more than the default Soldier.

This Demoman is pick-off class, less focused on bombing clusters and more on taking out stragglers and flanking. With the resistances and health gain from his Demoknight side, this Demo can more than handle his own.

The Pyro's tanking is very situational and much harder to pull off than other classes, as most of his health regeneration relies on something few pyros actually do: EXTINGUISH TEAMMATES. That's right. There's an actual, in-game benefit and reward for NOT BEING AN ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. So, please, try the right-click. It might save us both.

-Degreaser/Backburner
-Manmelter
-Powerjack/Backscratcher

The Degreaser and Backburner both restore 20 HP upon extinguishing an ally. The Degreaser holsters 30% faster and deploys 60% faster, making it easier to whip out than the Backburner. The Degreaser has a +25% airblast cost, while the Backburner has a whopping +150% cost increase. The Backburner gets 100% crits from behind, while the Degreaser loses 66% of its afterburn damage. These two come down to different styles. The Backburner is a classic W+M1 flanking Pyro, while the Degreaser fits more into "Puff-and-Sting" style tactics. For tanking, both require that you do, at some point, extinguish a teammate. Please, please do that.

The Manmelter is a beautiful little thing that was designed for Phlogistinator Pyros that way they didn't have to be complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but it also serves to help reward and utilizes extinguishing. This infinite ammo flare gun has a 50% faster projectile, and upon extinguishing, restores 20 HP and GUARANTEES A CRITICAL HIT. That's right. You can stock up on crits and heal yourself by extinguishing a teammate. So, please, just try that right mouse button. It's fun.

And, finally, the melees. The Powerjack and Backscratcher fit into similar, but slightly differing tactics. The Powerjack increases movement speed by 15%, and guarantees 25 HP on kill, but at a cost of a 20% damage vulnerability. The Backscratcher boasts a 25% damage increase and a 50% boost on health packs, but reduces the healing from Medics and Dispensers by 75%. The Powerjack is more of a closing weapon and a movement boost, and most people use it as a finisher to gain the heath restore. The Backscratcher allows the Pyro to plow through people with the damage boost, and to sustain themselves on the health packs in ways the other classes only dream of. The Backscratcher is also a Medic's best friend, as the reduced healing rate keeps the health low, and the Uber rates sky high.

This Pyro loadout should be more of a team player, as most health regeneration relies on extinguishing teammates, but the melee weapons do allow for a more aggressive extension, so long as the Pyro returns to the team.

This will be the simplest chapter here.
What every engineer needs to be able to tank.
Literally anyone can do it.


A Dispenser
A Sentry

Good Placement.

Boom. You can survive.


There is, however, a more advanced way of tanking a sentry with a specific loadout.

-The Rescue Ranger
-The Wrangler
-Stock Wrench/Jag

The Rescue Ranger can heal buildings, and that's mostly what it should be used for. This allows you to keep tabs on a building at range, and to not have to waste metal on repairs. In addition, for 100 metal, you can pick up a building from almost anywhere, as long as it's in your line of sight, allowing you to 'rescue' your sentry should you need to.

The Wrangler allows you to take manual control of the sentry, as well as placing a shield that reduces damage and repairs by 66%. This makes a mini sentry have the equivialent health of a Heavy. The shield lasts for about three seconds once you put away the Wrangler, and the sentry is disabled during that time. While using the Wrangler, the Sentry has infinite range and fires at twice the un-Wrangled fire rate.

The Stock Wrench provides the best general use, while the Jag has a minor repair decrease followed by a swing speed increase that practically nullifies all of its negative stats. The Stock provides a good general use, but the Jag can do almost the same, and faster.

The best way to tank damage on a sentry is to wrangle it. Allow it to soak some damage, then swith to the Rescue Ranger and heal it with a few shots. Rinse and Repeat. If done right, this strategy can even tank a sentry through an Ubercharge.

This loadout may seem like a weak hand at first, but in the hands of a good Spy, can become an easy tank.

-The Diamondback
-Conniver's Kunai
-Dead Ringer
-Stock Sapper

The Diamondback is simple. It has a 15% damage penalty, and no random crits, but gets a stored crit for every backstab and successful sap, storing up to 35 crits. It's suggested to save up to 4-6, get some kills, then go back to getting crits.

The Conniver's Kunai is a very advanced weapon for the Spy. It cuts your health down to 70 HP, but upon a backstab, you steal the entirety of the opponent's health and add it to your own, pulling an overheal of a max of 220. This allows the Spy to be their own Medic, and on full Overheal, this Spy becomes terrifying and nigh unstoppable.

The Dead Ringer is an insurance policy unlike any other. Pull it out, and if you get hit, you drop a body. The opponent sees your name in the kill feed, and they think you're dead. What actually happens, though, is that you're invisible and move faster for a short amount of time. The decloak is loud and distinctive, but if you can escape, you're home free.

Stealth is based entirely on disguises, so disguise well. The Dead Ringer should allow a Kunai Spy to take a hit and continue pushing on (crits not included, sorry). The Kunai Spy should focus on getting stabs and saps, building a large pool of health and crits. With the Diamondback and Kunai, every move you make makes you stronger, and if handled well, makes a terrifying nightmare of a Spy.

The Sniper is least suited for tanking, and doesn't have much for it. However, there are two secondary items that can help the Sniper last longer in different situations.

-The Cozy Camper
-Darwin's Danger Shield

The Cozy Camper is meant, of course, for campers. It allows you to stay in your nest a little longer, and make your perch a deadly view. It regenerate up to 4 HP a second, and also stops flinching while scoped in. In addition, is reduces 20% of the recoil when firing a fully charged shot.

The Darwin's Danger Shield increases the Sniper's health by 25 HP while granting a 15% bullet resistance, at the cost of a 20% explosive vulnerabilty. This is meant for the more mobile sniper, the strafe-walkers who stay just behind the team and make picks as they slowly advance. It allows them to take the wayward bullet, or even take a headshot and return fire, as well as the fact the Danger Shield's use is generally seen as a bit of a ♥♥♥♥ move.

The Medic is frail as is, but there are a few steps you can take to make your Medic just a little hardier.

-The Blutsauger
-The Vaccinator/Quick-Fix
-Amputator

The Blutsauger allows a Medic to gain 3 HP per hit, but reduces passive regeneration by 2 HP. If your aim is steady, you can almost nullify damage from many classes.

The Vaccinator is the Anti-Pocket, as it's 66% Overheal Rate decrease and 33% Ubercharge penalty on Overhealed patients. It lends itself to spreading the love and heals around to gain a 67% increased Uber rate, for four, 2.5 second bubbles of 75% elemental resistance. The Vaccinator provides a passive 10% elemental resistance as well. The elements resisted are bullets, bombs, and burns, but their's nothing for the blade/bludgeon. This Uber is most useful in one-on-one engagements, such as activating a fire Uber when your patient is attacked by a Pyro, or using a bullet Uber to escape a Scout. This Uber is purely defensive, and requires careful usage.

The Amputator is a saw that adds 3 HP to your passive healing rate while it's active, but for the low, low price of 20% damage. The damage penalty is hefty, but can generally be saved by the gift of random crits, as well as the increased regeneration rate. The Amputator has an extra utility- a taunt heal. Essentially, while taunting with the Amputator, everyone within range is healed at the same rate as the Stock Medigun, which allows you to do some bulk healing. The downside is that the taunt doesn't do much in one go, and builds pathetic amounts of Uber. But, if done right, it has it's moments where being a dispenser can actually pay off.

This Medic isn't going to be pushing with the Heavy to break the enemy lines, but they can still keep up with the team and help out. Generally, this build works more as a supporting, secondary Medic.

The Scout is a glass cannon, but there's some ways the tiny boi can be bubble-wrapped and made less fragile.

-Literally Any Primary
-Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol/Mad Milk/Mutated Milk
-Candy Cane

The Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol allows you to gain 5 HP per hit, but fires 25% slower, and gives you a 20% damage vulnerabilty. If you're accurate and know how to dodge, the healing from the pistol can be helpful, but it's not the most recommended way of tanking.

The Mad Milk is a godsend, a direct upgrade to Jarate handed to the Scout. It marks Spies and extinguishes flames, but best of all, Mad Milk heals for 60% of damage done. This applies to everyone who hits the Milked man, meaning that your team will love you automatically, especially if you milk that Heavy who has a Medic up his ass.

The Candy Cane is the way Gaben allowed the Scout to do something nice while still allowing him to be a complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. On kill, the Candy Cane drops a small health kit, which he can use, or leave for a friend. This comes at a price, however- a 25% explosive vulnerability. Still, if you know how to dodge a rocket, and how to beat a man to death, this weapon will pay off in a grand manner.

This Scout is all about the Milk. Before every fight, have a milk. When you start, throw the milk. If you want to give them the Candy Cane, start with the Milk. MILK IS LIFE.