MIRVs & grens are both very useful additions to the Demoman's already potent arsenal. Normal grenades are very useful, and I use them all the time. MIRVs, on the other hand, I don't use too much. Although their primary "use" is to start spam wars, there are some occasions when MIRVs can be utilized well and effectively, without having other players call you a spammer.

Before you can use grenades, you have to make sure that you have your keys binded correctly. Now, some people say that you should bind your keys so that you simply throw the grenade, which will then explode in three seconds after just sitting on the ground. Let me tell you that is the wrong way to use grenades. There is a more advanced way to do it, it may take some time to get good at, but it is much more effective.

First of all, you should bind the following commands to a different key each:

> primeone - This will start to prime a normal grenade. Then you have three seconds before it explodes.
> primetwo - Primes a mirv grenade. Again, you have three seconds before it spills all over you.
> throwgren - Throws whichever grenade you just primed (you can only prime one gren at a time)

So in a typical battle with an enemy, I press my "primeone" key (which starts to prime a hand grenade), and then, after about two seconds (it all depends on where the enemy is in relation to me) I press my "throwgren" key. If all goes well, the grenade will be right at the enemy's feet when it explodes. This is much more effective than simply throwing a three-second hand grenade. Try it out yourself sometime. Every situation will call for a different amount of priming time, and angle at which you throw it, it it takes quite a bit of time and experience to use grens effectively. I've been playing Team Fortress for 2 and a half years, and, compared to some players I know, I completely suck at throwing primed grens (they usually end up exploding in my hand before I get rid of 'em!)

MIRVs

As I said earlier, I really don't use MIRVs at all. The only thing that I think they are good for is buying oneself time. Since a MIRV takes a while to explode, you can easily drop one near an enemy's feet, and then hopefully you'll have enough time to run to a different position where you can strike at them more effectively. Who knows, they guy you're fighting could be a dumbass and he might just sit there and take the MIRV!

However, MIRVs are most valuable on defense. If I'm in my basement and I need to reload, I have to go all the way to my resupply, during which time I would loose sight of my traps and an emey might be able to slip right into the flag room without my knowing. So what I always do is lob a MIRV at the foot of the ramp room, not with the aim of killing someone through spam, but merely to delay someone that might be coming down the ramps. This usually gives me enough time to return to a place in the basement where I can see an enemy coming.

Here are a few pictures of what I'm talking about:

click on the pictures for a larger image

Launch dat MIRV! | Place it by the ramps | Shit for an enemy comin' down!

Now, obviously the idea of using MIRVs in the way that the pictures above depict does not apply to all maps. On a level such as Well6, this strategy just wouldn't apply. However, that doesn't mean that you should just start lobbing MIRVs wherever you go. First of all, you'll find yourself without them when you really need them, and secondly you'll be branded as a spammer, and most people don't like that. You must be responsible when dealing with MIRVs.

Hand Grenades

Hand grenades are all about timing. It will take a while for you to get good at throwing grens correctly in the numerous situations you're going to encounter. Hell, even the best still screw up after years of playing, so don't worry about it! The problem with priming and throwing a hand grenade is that there's usually so much going on that your sense of time can become a little screwy. Sometimes it may seem like enough time and you throw it, but it just sits there for two more seconds, and by that time your enemy is far away. Other times it may just explode right on you. It's all a matter of getting out there and trying it.

Practice using hand grenades - an excellent idea would be to find an empty server and just screw around with grens for a bit. Pick a target on a wall and see if you can get a timed grenade to explode on the target itself. Once you get good at hitting sedentary targets, try it out on a moving one. It will still be very difficult at first, but trying it out on stationary targets will help immensely. I still find an empty server every now and then to practice my gren-throwing skillz.

Pipebomb - Grenade Combos

For information on how to use pipebombs, see the pipe jumping section.

While on the note of hand grenades, I figure this is a good time to talk about combos. Put quite simply, a combo is when you hit your target with a pipebomb (or regular grenade) and a timed grenade. This is a very diffiuclt thing to do, but I know people who are completely amazing at this strategy, and it gives them a real edge over anyone who can't do it well. What it requires you to do is to prime a hand grenade and then, when you feel it's the right time to throw it, cheuck the grenade at your target and, at the same time, lob a pipebomb (or regular grenade) at your target. If all goes well, both your shots will nail your target. This usually causes quite a bit of damage, and will at least cause your enemy some confusion for a few seconds. If you don't hit your enemy with both grenades, hopefully you can hit with at least one of them. This is an incredibly difficult strategy to master (I completely suck at), but if you can get it down, you'll find yourself scoring some major points in TF games.

Grenade Jumping

One of the best techniques you can use with grandes is gren jumping. It's a great way to get out of a jam, and throw the enemy team's defense for a loop. Once you've got the enemy, flag, you can utilize a hand grenade to give you a speedy escape from their basement.

For example, on 2fort5, instead of simply running up the spiral stair case after you've got the flag, go to the left and head towards the elevator shaft. Once you're in view of their elevator, prime a grenade, and run up against the wall. When you reach the wall, look up and make sure that you're facing straigh up the middle of the shaft. Keep walking forward, and then, when the grenade goes off, you'll go sailing straight up, and you'll be perched on the ledge right about the elevator shaft.

click on the pictures for a larger image

Prime a hand grenade here | Walk to the wall and look up | BOOM! Up you go!

Unfortunately, as you can see, this takes off a lot of health. Most of the time, a grenade jump isn't advisable unless you have near full health and armour. As we all know, in a match it's very rare for one to make it into the enemy basement and nab the flag without getting hurt. So, although this is a great technique, it's not a great idea unless you're in optimal shape. This strategy is utilized frequently by the more experienced players who use the Soldier class, because that player class can possess much more armour and can have full health.

The fact that the console always says "No, (playername), the grenade is your friend!" is a great help for defenders. I go into more detail on this subject in the defense section of this web site.

In addition to using hand grenades to get yourself out of these situations faster, you can also use pipe bombs. For more information on how to utilize pipe bombs in the same way, check out the pipe jumping section.