Community Coal Town strategy

Community Coal Town strategy
Basic Information
Developer(s):	{{{map-developer}}}
Map Info
Environment:	Desert
Map Photos

This article is about Community Coal Town strategy.

General (All Classes)

• The most intense combat will take place out in the open, in front of the robots' spawn area. As such, close combat classes tend to have a hard time here without strong team support. They are still important for collecting credits, though.
• There are many good places for Sentry Guns in Coal Town, so they and their Engineers must be protected. If Sentry Busters get the best of them, your team’s ability to defend will quickly be cut short.
• There are two hazard areas in the map. One is on the left of the center building (relative to the spawn point) and one is behind the center building. Knocking enemies, especially the bomb carrier, will reset the bomb and automatically collect the cash upon their death.
• The building facing the robot's entry point makes a great sniping position, especially if you invest in piercing shots. Just watch out for Spies, as you’ll usually be the first target they come across.
• The building closest to the robot's entry point can be a good way to ambush robots from behind. Hide behind the wooden shields on the roof, and jump at the robots as they pass your hiding spot.
  • Do be aware that some support robots and giants spawn behind this building. Watch your back and abandon the area of a wave of robots spawn behind you.
• CPU Slaughter is the only mission that contains Sydney Sleeper Sniper Robots, which can be very problematic if not taken care of quickly.
  • It should be noted that Sniper Robots are capable of trapping the players in their own spawn if they camp on the center building overlooking the bomb site, making them a high priority target.

Class-specific strategy

 Scout

• The open terrain of this map generally suits a Scout, because he can make the most of his dodging ability.
• Because many classes will set up a kill zone just outside the robots spawn point, many of the piles of cash can be found along the first incline. However, Coal Town (especially on the Advance difficulty) sends tough robots that are lethal up close. It would be wise to invest in some resistances to keep you alive as you collect the cash.
• Take note of where the Tank gets destroyed. If it is by one of the holes and cash appears to be missing, it may have fallen in. The only way to get it is for a Scout to fall down the hole to retrieve it. Other classes can do this too if the Scout is not aware or around, but because of the Scout's increased credit radius and instant respawn times, he is the most qualified to go after the cash that falls down the hole.
  • Another solution to prevent this is to have the Scout stand on top of the Tank as it passes the center building. When the Tank is about to die, the Scout double jumps straight up, pulling a majority of the cash to him just as it spawns from the destroyed Tank.

 Soldier

• The buildings on either side of the robot spawn area are good places to get a high ground advantage. There are also large ammo boxes on each building to keep soldiers fully stocked with ammo.
  • The Beggar's Bazooka excels here, especially when upgraded. It will allow you to launch a volley of rockets on robot mobs, killing weaker targets and softening up giants for your teammates.

 Pyro

• The open space can prove difficult for a Pyro unless a player buys certain upgrades. Purchasing an upgrade to gain health upon a kill will greatly improve your survivability.
• If it’s too difficult to get close, use one of your Flare Guns to rack up some damage and soften up the horde. The Detonator and Scorch Shot are very effective due to their explosive flares.
  • In contrast, using the Shotgun with penetrating rounds allows you to hit multiple targets from further ranges. It can be viable to soften targets this way, wait around a corner, and attack.
• The compression blast is invaluable for Mann vs Machine in general, but works extremely well on Coal Town. Investing in ammo capacity and airblast force can make a very big difference.
  • Using one of the previously mentioned holes, airblasting a Robot into the pit will automatically reset the bomb. Don't worry about credits, any robots that die from the pit will automatically add to the credit count.
  • Because of this map's wide open areas, especially at the start, Pyros can push the bomb back great distances, buying their teammates time to set up.
  • The wide open areas and combination of Soldiers and Demomen, Pyros can use well timed airblasts to send a barrage of rockets back to their senders, inflicting massive damage. It would be wise to invest in Explosive Resistance before attempting, as you will no doubt take some damage if too many robots fire upon you at once.
  • As a reverse of the above tactic, using the Backburner to ambush the robots (either by teleporting behind them or by hiding behind one of the buildings, such as the one immediately to the left of the robot drop-down area when facing the Tank shaft) can be effective, if the rest of the team can draw the robots fire. This is a high-risk strategy, however, as timing it wrong often means certain death.

 Demoman

• Your Stickybomb Launcher generally fares better than the Grenade Launcher in the wide-open spaces. The latter still proves very useful against Giant robots and Tanks, though.
  • The Scottish Resistance fares even better, allowing you to set up multiple traps along the first choke point, weakening if not killing a wave of robots easily.
• The left stairwell on the starting stretch of the map makes for a perfect place to set up and maintain a Sticky Trap, running the width of the road. This is very useful for stalling the bomb as well as taking out Medics and heavily damaging giant Soldiers and Heavies.
• Demoknights can very easily rack up kills against weaker robots. However, Coal Town's open areas can make it difficult for Demoknights to flee from a fight. Investing in Bullet Resistance and Health on Kill can increase a Demoknight's chance of survival should a situation become too much.

 Heavy

• If you can coordinate with an Engineer to have access to his Dispenser, the wide open areas will allow the heavy to simply fire his Minigun at closer targets without having to worry about running out of ammo.
  • Effective areas to place the Dispenser would be at the top of the hill behind one of the fence wall areas, which will protect the Dispenser from ranged attacks by the robotic horde.
  • Ask the Engineer to spend credits in the Dispenser range to give you the ability to strafe while firing in the event of Soldiers or Snipers.
  • Heavies should invest in Minigun Penetration and Rage. The Rage will build quickly against hordes due to the Penetration, allowing you to push back Giants from a safe distance.

 Engineer

• There are many good places for Sentry Guns in Coal Town. The building to the right of the robots' spawn (from players' perspective) fares well in most cases. A tried and true strategy is getting the mini-sentry upgrade, then setting yourself up in the little passage between the robot-spawn wall and the building to the left (player’s perspective). Set up everything, get a Pyro to come with you, and the Engineer gets half the kills. One problem, though, is the sentry busters. Pick up your main sentry if one is alerted, and move to the pre-suggested roof.
• The Wrangler is exceptionally powerful in this level. Place a Sentry Gun on the building directly opposite the robot spawn, and you can deal a lot of damage from a safe distance. Few things can match the sheer power of a Wrangled Sentry at that distance.
• There are several Large Ammo Boxes all around the level, including the previously mentioned Sentry Gun areas. This allows you to build your Dispenser closer to your teammates since metal will not be an issue.
• When setting up to defend the Hatch, there are several alcoves that that are perfect for hiding a Sentry Gun. Each alcove has a Large Ammo Box and Large Health Kit with a clean view of the hatch. Set up here if the Robots push towards the hatch.
• Sentry Busters can be dealt with very easily on this map without having to bait or trick the Sentry Buster, especially when placed on the center building. Since the Sentry Buster must run straight towards the Sentry Gun though the long path from the robot's spawn point, it is likely to be caught in the crossfire of your teammates and can be destroyed before it has a chance to get to the Sentry Gun. Coordinate with your teammates to slow it down in some way to keep your Sentry Gun alive and working against the rest of the horde.

 Medic

• Medics with a Kritzkrieg are best to pair with Heavies with penetration enabled or Demomen or Soldiers with large clips. Heavies will penetrate multiple targets at maximum damage without worrying about fall off, and the Projectile based classes will be able to deal splash damage to multiple targets easily. Use upgrades to increase Übercharge duration and charge rate.
• Pyros on this stage can be very effective with the right brand of Medi Gun. To make the most of this Über Buddy, it is best you coordinate your Medi Gun choice and upgrades with his by either complementing his weaknesses or furthering his abilities.

 Sniper

• The open look over the robot spawn and player spawn are very effective for Snipers. Be wary of Snipers and Spies when their alerts appear.
• Because there are several choke points in this map, it's best to invest in the Explosive Headshot upgrade to soften up multiple targets.
  • It might also be wise to get Jarate upgrades or use the Sydney Sleeper with penetration to soften multiple targets.

 Spy

• The left and right forks leading from the robot spawn make good choke points if you need to sap a group of robots and backstab them all yourself because your teammates are otherwise occupied.
• Snipers will tend to spawn from the alleys to the left and right of the main robot spawn ledge; watch for them and eliminate them as quickly as possible.
• The stairs leading to the rooftops on either side of the starting robot path are excellent escape routes if you need breathing room to redisguise and your Cloak watch isn’t charged. The center rooftop complex between the starting street and the bomb site is good too, but support robots will sometimes use that area so be careful.