Heavy Weapons Guy and Sasha (Team Fortress 2)

     You are heavy weapons guy… and Sasha is your weapon.  She weighs 150 kilograms and fires $200 custom-tooled cartridges at 10,000 rounds per minute.  It costs $400,000 to fire this weapon for twelve seconds.  Some people say they can outsmart you. Maybe… but you have yet to meet a man who can outsmart a bullet.  With that in mind, our build goals are to make someone who:

1. Can hold down a wide area
2. Won't go down like a sack of potatoes at the first sign of trouble
3. Is very much a team player

With that out of the way, let's kick some gravel!

First Tier

Type?  Warrior, obviously— he's a teddy bear and a half, emphasis on bear and a half, so our pools will start at 13/13/8, with 1 edge in might or speed (your choice).  This gives us our first four abilities from the menu:

• Combat Prowess, Ranged–+1 damage with Ranged Weapons to make our heavy weapons heavier
• Improved Edge for 1 edge in both might and speed
• Overwatch—1 IP to turn that wait action into a just-you-wait action! +1 damage and you get to ignore that peaky cover, concealment, etc.
• Practiced in Armor Bash (1 MP, Action)— a haymaker that trades one damage for dazing whoever thought getting closer to a guy with a Gatling canon and Kevlar where his adipose tissue would be a good idea for a round.

And of course, the Heavy Starting Pack:

1. RED/BLU uniform
2. Sasha (minigun—heavy rapid-fire weapon, long range)
3. Shotgun (heavy weapon, immediate range)
4. Kevlar Vest (medium armor)
5. First Aid Kit
6. Babushka's Sweater (light armor)
7. Shotgun shells, 2 boxes
8. Sandwich
9. Chocolate Bar

     If you're wondering where the Sandvich and Dalokohs Bar went—and how were going to reload Sasha—here it is. In the meantime, Heavy being Strong means we get four extra points in might, training in breaking Stuff and oddly enough, jumping, and a free medium or heavy weapon which we'll use to round out our arsenal with boxing gloves (medium weapons).

     Now my fellow cypherheads could probably see the focus a mile away… because we'll be Standing Like a Bastion with Practiced in Armor keeping our light armor light by reducing our speed tax by 1 and Experienced Defender taking notes from Van Helsing and putting 1 armor on top of our armor.  And for our first round of advancements, we'll take the usual four:

• 4 points and am edge to speed for superior gunnery
• 1 effort
• Specialization in breaking Stuff, which should more like a Demoman trying now that I type it out loud, but whatevs.

Second Tier… and Beyond! 

Second Tier

     We get two abilities for second tier, plus our focus perk:

• Reload (1 SP, enabler) lets us reload and shoot in the same turn, in case Sasha needs even more ammo
• Skill with Attacks trains us in heavy ranged attacks, the better to waddle and gun with
• Resist the Elements ships us an even better sweater from our babushka, granting +2 armor against ambient damage

And now for advancement round two!

• 3 points in speed, 1 in might
• +2 recovery bonus
• Level of effort
• One speed edge, topping it off at 3

Third Tier

     This is where the fun begins.  We'll grab the following from the breadline:

• Spray (2 SP, action) lets us do what we've been doing for two tiers, training us in throwing [(1d6+1) × $200] in custom-tooled cartridges at the enemy
• Fury (3 MP, action to start) gives +2 damage to our punches for a minute
• Physical Skills for climbing and swimming, just because
• No Need for Weapons from all the way back in first tier turns our firsts into medium weapons outright, so we don't need those boxing gloves anymore. 

     That was easy.  This time, we'll advance with

• 4 speed points
• 1 might edge
• +2 recovery bonus
• Expert Cypher Use, another third tier ability

Fourth Tier

     This is where Heavy earns his name.  Two abilities and a focus perk:

• Tough as Nails eases or might tasks while we're hurt, meaning BLU are now stuck in here with you
• Increased Effect turns out Nat 19s into Nat 20s for either might or speed—type choice, but we're going with might this time for even more STRONK.
• Living Wall is exactly what it sounds like—anyone who tries to get past us shall not pass, especially if they get hit with our free attack.

     And for advancements…

• 4 speed points and a speed edge.  They don't call Heavy "fat Scout" for nothing
• 1 more effort, just because
• Another +2 recovery bonus, to double-stack our sandvich

Fifth Tier

     Almost there!  Now for the type abilities and a focus perk:

• Mastery in Armor makes our Kevlar/sweater/plate armor/whatever weigh nothing at all
• Mastery with Attacks maxes out our heavy gunnery skill for those occasions when just having a haling canon isn't enough
• Arc Spray (3 SP, action) lets us attack any three stooges who dare to lay a hand on Medic
• Hardiness trains us in might defense.  Took us long enough.

And now, we advance the payload home!

• Mastery with Defense to immediately specialize in might defense
• One last recovery bonus
• 4 points, split between might and speed
• 1 might edge

Sixth Tier

   Now to put a couple of cherries on this heavy sundae…

• Lethal Damage lets us add 5 damage to a specific weapon/attack ability/what-have-you.  💘Happy Valentine's day, Sasha!💘
• Capable Warrior gives us +1 damage straight up.
• Again and Again (8 SP, enabler) gives us a bonus action… and I mean a real bonus action, none of that "flip a switch our quaff a potion" nonsense in other games.

And that's our Heavy.  Let's see if he punches above his weight class.

Pros and Cons

     If you're looking for the living turret experience, this is your guy.  A beefy might pool will allow you to defend your friends, and an even beefier speed pool allows you and Sasha to hold enemies at bay, and both are helped by a more-than-healthy recovery roll.  Of course, abilities like Fury and No Need for Weapons ensure that you're far from helpless even if they get to close (see: the Valve short film End of the Line).  And as if it needs to be said, just because you're a combat machine doesn't you can't also have a big heart.

     Of course, the one trade-off is that Heavy is built with a specific role in mind, just like in TF2.  That shouldn't stop you from contributing in other ways (a topic for another day), though.

Stay tuned for our next character build and an alternative Sasha/Sandvich, and as always, character sheets can be downlo--

Uh-oh…

I smell JoJo!