Kill assist

A Kill Assist

“

Click to listen

— The Medic on his kill assist

”

A kill assist is awarded to a player when an enemy that they have wounded dies through any means.

Participating in a kill assist may sometimes produce a special audio response from your class. Using the "Thanks!" command moments after the assist will also make your class use these responses.

Example

Killer + Assister

Target

Consider the example demonstrated in the image

A BLU Pyro called Assister is using a Flamethrower on a RED Scout called Target.
Assister stops attacking. Target has suffered direct damage from the Flamethrower and is now on fire.
A BLU Demoman called Killer places Stickybombs beneath Target and then detonates them.
The Stickybombs kill Target. They also happen to kill Killer because he's too close when they detonate.

Result

Killer is awarded a kill because the Stickybombs dealt the last damage to Target.
Assister is awarded a kill assist for damaging Target prior to Killer.
Assister is not awarded a kill because his attack was not the one that killed Target.
The killfeed notification for a kill with a kill assist: Killer + Assister (Killer's Weapon) Target. A zoomed-in view of the notification is featured at the bottom of the image.
Killer's death from the Stickybomb splash damage does not affect either his kill award or Assister's kill assist award.

Gaining kill assists

Priority

If several people help in getting a kill, then the one who is highest in the list below will get the assist.

Soaking the victim in Jarate.
Healing the killer at the time of the kill (this includes healing disguised enemy Spies, even if the healing beam breaks upon kill).
Engineers healing the killer with a Dispenser.
Lighting the victim on fire, provided they are still on fire at the time of the kill. (The last player to light them on fire gets priority.)
Wounding the victim. (The player who dealt the most damage gets priority.)
Boosting the killer with the Buff Banner, Battalion's Backup or Concheror.

General

Other ways that you can gain kill assists include:

Upgrading or restocking a fellow Engineer's Sentry Gun with your Wrench.
Stunning the victim with any stun-capable weapon, such as the Sandman.
Airblasting the victim shortly before the kill.
Marking the enemy for death with the Fan O'War.

Additional notes

Kill assists are worth half a point and will be counted as a full point every two of them.
If the person who receives a kill assist is being dominated by the victim, they will get a revenge kill. Similarly, assist kills count as one of the four kills needed to dominate a player.
A Medic will only recieve a kill assist if the player is being actively healed. Overheal, at any stage of decay, does not count.
It is possible to assist yourself by throwing Jarate and then killing your target or by hitting them with the Sandman's baseball and killing them.
If the enemy kills himself (e.g. fall damage, the Demoman's explosives, the Soldier's rockets, or the Kamikaze taunt) you'll still receive credit for the kill, but it will not count as a kill assist.
While Jarate grants a kill assist, Mad Milk has no assist score given to the Scout.
Kill assists count as a point whilst using a Dueling Mini Game.