Booties are terrible. If you even think of equipping them you're already hurting your team more than helping it. While they do assist with some specialized scripting and fancy maneuvers I won't be discussing them here as you just lose far too much from equipping boots. A good Demoknight always has grenades so let's cover that first.

Pros:

• Large clip.
  
• Viable blind fire.
  
• Allows detonation jumps.
  
• Good for indirectly destroying sentry nests.
  
• Better for taking out heavies.

Cons:

• Harder to handle faster targets.
  
• Low damage and small radius. (rollers)
  
• Limited range.

Pros:

• Kills most classes in 1-2 shots.
  
• Destroys engineer buildings in 2 hits.
  
• Good for tightly packed groups of enemies.
  
• Decent range.

Cons:

• Requires good aim.
  
• Usually can't hit targets behind cover.
  
• Small clip.
  
• Extra self inflicted damage
  
• Can't grenade jump

Loose Cannon:

Pros:

• Heavy Knockback.
  
• High damage in skilled hands.
  
• Great area denial.
  
• Very long range.

Cons:

• Very difficult to use.
  
• Requires excellent aim & timing.
  
• Virtually useless against scouts.
  
• Only useful against poorly placed sentries.
  
• Very low damage in unskilled hands.

Your choice of launcher is highly situational. If your aim isn't that great always take the stock launcher but if you do have a good sense of aim & timing the Loch n' Load is an excellent sidegrade. If you have the time to put a lot of practice into learning how to use the Loose Cannon it has very great potential but be aware that the skill ceiling on the weapon is very high and even with a good handle on how to use this it's advantages fall flat once the other team has a decent scout or engineer.

Demoknights are highly resilient and the good ones can be extremely difficult to take down. Both shields will add passive resistances but never forget how easy a shield charge makes escaping from tight situations. Survivability is your strongest tool, especially when using the eyelander. The initial heads are hard to come by so always retreat when needed otherwise you'll need to start collecting all over again.



It surprises me how few people know about this technique. When you charge over an inclined surface (and the charge continues past the incline) you can sometimes execute a "charge jump" that is almost as effective as a sticky jump. The easiest place to practice this is DeGroot Keep. This is a very map specific skill but can be performed with properly timed crouch jump charges into staircases and ramps. Always keep in mind your jumps trajectory will be the same of the ramp used to launch yourself, the steeper the ramp the higher you'll jump. If you want practice in this most surf maps can give you a rough starting point.


Obviously as a demoknight you only have two choices when it come to shields. The Splendid Screen or the The Chargin Targe. The Targe will give you much greater resistance at the cost of attack power and vice versa for the screen. Keep in mind that both shields also gain a damage bonus when using the eyelander (+10 damage for each head collected for the targe and +17 per head on the screen).

In general I recommend using the screen in most situations. Being able to hit with the shield at any range is borderline overpowered in the right hands.



First off, TURN ON HITSOUNDS! This makes knowing when a shield connects with an enemy much easier to gauge. Your melee weapon gets 100% critical hit chance at the end of charges and immediately after a shield hit. In addition to the critical your shield will knockback the enemy with more force than an airblast if the shield connects and you are on level or higher ground. This can be used in essentially the same manner as a pyros airblast to take advantage of enviromental hazards. Even short range charges when using the screen will produce knockback this powerful.

Turning isn't much of an option during charges so try to aim yourself before a charge begins. Chances are enemies will try to dodge when they here the scream so try to turn as much as possible away from the closest wall to them as that's generally the direction they will dodge in. You will generally attract a lot of attention. The scream while charging is loud and distinctive. Everyone within a sizable range will know exactly where you are so retreating after kills is usually a good idea.

The Eyelander:

The Eyelander is the 18 wheeler of the demoknights arsenal. Slow to get started but almost unstoppable once it's warmed up. 5 heads will give you a speed equal to that of a gas jockey pyro (just under scout speed) and makes the charge feel almost redundant.

You will also gain an incredible damage bonus to shield damage. Up to 100 damage on the targe and and 190 for the screen. Combined with guaranteed criticals nothing short of an overhealed heavy will survive long if they let you get close enough. Retreat if necessary while using this as it does take a decent amount of time to get those 5 heads and you are a far more dangerous target with them than without.



The Persian Persuader:


Don't be afraid to pick this weapon up. While being unable to pick up ammo is a fairly hefty downside it's offset a great deal by being able to charge back to a resupply cabinet very quickly.

The main upside to this is the increased shield charge rate (Dropping recharge time from 12 seconds to 6). Personally when I use this I throw the idea of survivability out the window. Charge spamming with good timing and accuracy means you can take out a large amount of enemies quickly and while you do get health from all collected ammo it's usually in trivial amounts but almost always enough to keep you going long enough to take out half the enemy team.


The Half-Zatoichi:


This happens to be my least favorite option for demoknight but I do understand and respect the playstyle. Honorbound can be a huge drawback because even with the utility of a shield charge there are sometimes when only the grenades can deal with a situation.

If you find yourself playing large open maps this is usually the weapon that will keep you alive the longest with health kits being sparse and usually taken just remember that this weapon will sacrifice the most offense in return for that greater defense.

Demoknights can be viable in Mann vs. Machine but the higher the difficulty, the less viable he becomes. Demoknighting here should be a means to an end. That end being guaranteed criticals. So if you plan to bring a shield along here's my advice.

• Equip the targe. shield hits will be a lot less frequent here and not really that beneficial when compared to better free resistances.
  
• Don't dump a ton of cash into your melee. Max the crits on kills and don't bother with anything else.
  
• Keep your upgrades focused in the grenades. Once you have crits on kill you can spam critical grenades after every stray melee kill. A well upgraded grenade launcher using this tactic can take down tanks almost single handed.
  
• You may have increased resistance but don't think you're invincible. Play it safe and only go for melee kills when you find stray robots or the battle field is sparse.
  
• Never use the zatoichi or persian persuader. Their downsides are amplified a great deal in MvM and will hurt you far more than help you.
  
• Flank as often as possible. You won't survive if you're noticed so try to play with a spy mentality here.

Overall though I have to say that you shouldn't be playing demoknight in MvM unless it's the easiest difficulty. There are 5 other people in that server with you and remember that it only takes one person not pulling their weight to drag a team down so don't let your fun come at the expense of theirs.



If you have any suggestions on how to improve this guide I welcome them as well as any questions. If you would like to read my other guides they can be found in the links below.



Gear up! (A guide to optimal MvM loadouts)Stop thinking like a Medic! (A guide to using the Quick-Fix)Basically Idle (A guide to contributing as little as possible)Begginer's Guide to Trading & the "Mannconomy"Botkillin's a good job mate. (A guide to playing Sniper in Mann Vs. Machine)