Stickybomb Launcher

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This article is about the Demoman's default secondary weapon. For other stickybomb launchers, see Stickybomb launcher (disambiguation).
Ye appear to 'ave trodden on a mine!
The Demoman

The Stickybomb Launcher is the default secondary weapon for the Demoman. It is a modified grenade launcher with a large olive drum magazine, an under-barrel foregrip, and a wide barrel. A charging handle used to reload the weapon sits on the back left side, above the trigger.

The Stickybomb Launcher launches small, glowing, spiked bombs that adhere to most surfaces, but bounce off enemy players, buildings, and certain map entities such as spawn gates or Payload carts. Unlike the default Grenade Launcher, stickybombs do not explode on contact, but can instead be detonated manually with alt-fire (default key: MOUSE2) approximately 0.7 seconds after being deployed; stickybombs signal the end of their arm time by blinking twice. Should the Demoman die, their stickybombs disappear harmlessly with a white flash and a burst of debris. They also break if hit by bullets, syringes (excluding the Crusader's Crossbow), melee attacks, or explosions caused by the Scorch Shot, Detonator, Scottish Resistance, and Quickiebomb Launcher. Up to 8 stickybombs can be placed at one time; attempting to deploy a ninth bomb detonates the oldest bomb after a short delay. The total number of stickybombs placed on the map is shown on the HUD. Demomen cannot detonate stickybombs while taunting, during Humiliation, or while spooked by a ghost.

Should a stickybomb be hit with a compression blast or an explosion from any enemy weapon (except the Scottish Resistance and Quickiebomb Launcher), it is detached from the surface it was on and pushed away, but does not detonate. Stickybombs pushed in this way temporarily slide across surfaces, but still eventually come to rest; stickies experience significant friction, causing them to roll to rest more quickly than grenades. The stickybombs are otherwise unharmed by the force of the blast and can be detonated as normal. Stickybomb explosions deal splash damage. However, blast radius falloff reduces stickybomb damage the further away a target is from the center of its explosion, even in the case of critical hits, with a minimum of 50% damage being done at the very edge of the blast radius. Stickybomb explosions can be used to juggle targets or throw them into environmental hazards.

The Demoman can also use stickybombs to propel himself into the air. Compared to the Soldier, the Demoman possesses lower damage resistance to his own explosives causing him to experience much greater self-damage (up to half of his total health). However, stickybombs also propel the Demoman significantly further than a single rocket can send the Soldier. In addition, the Stickybomb Launcher's manual detonation can offer the Demoman finer control over his blast jumps.

Stickybombs are fired from the launcher at 805 Hammer units per second (approximately 55 km/h or 34 mph). By holding down primary fire (default key: MOUSE1), the Launcher can be charged up to launch stickybombs over a greater distance. A meter below the ammo count shows the degree of force behind each stickybomb, and the Launcher begins to tremble when reaching its maximum strength. If the charge bar fills completely, the sticky is forcibly fired. A fully charged stickybomb travels approximately 2.3 times as fast as an uncharged sticky. The Stickybomb Launcher also has a slight spread, so stickybombs deviate slightly in where they land.

Like most weapons, the damage put out by stickybombs changes depending on the distance from player to target. However, this applies only for Stickybombs detonated within 5 seconds after firing. Stickybombs detonated after 5 seconds use their base damage to calculate damage (explosive damage falloff still applies).

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Damage and function times
Shot type Projectile
Damage type Explosive
Ranged or Melee damage? Ranged
Damage
Maximum ramp-up 120% 144
Base damage 100% 120
Maximum fall-off 52.8% 64
Critical 180 cm: 180
90 cm: 261
Under: 355
Mini-crit 180 cm: 81
90 cm: 117
Under: 165
Splash damage
Minimum splash 50% 270 cm
Damage reduction 1% / 2.92
   
Splash damage range 180 cm: 47-90
90 cm: 60-124
Under: 103-138
Self-damage 45-114
Function times
Attack interval 0.6 s
Reload (first) 1.09 s
Reload (consecutive) 0.67 s
Activation time 0.7 s
Maximum charge time 4.00 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Demonstration

Strange variant


Related achievements

Leaderboard class soldier.png Soldier

Bomb Squaddie
Bomb Squaddie
Destroy 10 sticky bombs with the shotgun in a single life.


Leaderboard class demoman.png Demoman

Double Mauled Scotch
Double Mauled Scotch
Kill 2 people in a single sticky jump.


He Who Celt It
He Who Celt It
Use the Sticky Launcher to kill an enemy player via environmental damage.


Highland Fling
Highland Fling
Sticky jump a really long way...


Loch Ness Bombster
Loch Ness Bombster
Kill an enemy player with sticky bombs within 5 seconds of them teleporting.


Pipebagger
Pipebagger
Kill at least three players with a single detonation of sticky bombs.


Robbed Royal
Robbed Royal
Destroy 100 enemy sticky bombs with the Scottish Resistance.
Scotch Guard
Scotch Guard
Kill 3 enemies capping or pushing a cart in a single Stickybomb detonation 3 separate times.


Something Stickied This Way Comes
Something Stickied This Way Comes
Kill 30 players with air burst sticky bombs.


The Argyle Sap
The Argyle Sap
Blow up an Engineer, his Sentry Gun, and his Dispenser with a single Sticky bomb detonation.


The High Road
The High Road
Sticky jump onto a cap point and capture it.


The Scottish Play
The Scottish Play
Get a melee kill while sticky jumping.


The Stickening
The Stickening
Kill 3 Heavies from full health with a single sticky bomb detonation.


Leaderboard class heavy.png Heavy

0wn the Means of Production
0wn the Means of Production
Remove 20 stickybombs by killing the Demomen who produced them.


Leaderboard class engineer.png Engineer

How the Pests Was Gunned
How the Pests Was Gunned
Destroy 50 enemy stickybombs lying in range of friendly buildings.


Leaderboard class sniper.png Sniper

Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye
While using The Classic, kill a rocket/grenade jumping enemy in midair with a full charge, no-scope, headshot.
Jumper Stumper
Jumper Stumper
Kill a rocket or grenade-jumping enemy in midair with your Sniper Rifle or the Huntsman.

Styles

Main article: Styles
Styles
Festive Stickybomb Launcher Style1.png
Festive Stickybomb Launcher Style2.png
Festive Festivest

Note: Only applies to the Festive variant of this weapon.

Update history

September 27, 2007 Patch
  • Fixed prediction error that caused jittery Stickybomb Launcher behavior.

February 28, 2008 Patch

  • Reduced Demoman's maximum Stickybomb reserve ammo from 40 to 24.

March 6, 2008 Patch

  • Fixed critical modifier for explosive weapons (rockets, pipe bombs) increasing critical chance more than intended.

February 16, 2009 Patch

  • Stickybombs now get a reduced close range damage ramp up (like Rocket Launcher & Syringe Gun).
    • Ultimately reduces damage done by Stickybombs to enemies < 512 Hammer units from the Demoman.
  • Demoman's secondary weapon has been renamed to Stickybomb Launcher.

May 5, 2010 Patch

  • Fixed deflected Stickybombs becoming mini-crits when detonated.
  • Fixed deflected Stickybombs becoming crits if the Pyro was crit-boosted.

January 19, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Stickybomb Launcher now drops the appropriate weapon on death, on RED team.

February 14, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the Stickybomb Launcher viewmodel sleeves using the wrong team colors for team BLU.
  • Fixed melee attacks not destroying remote detonation pipes (Stickybombs).

April 20, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the Stickybomb Launcher and the Sticky Jumper using the wrong skins.

June 23, 2011 Patch (Über Update)

  • [Undocumented] Added Strange quality.

July 18, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed a case where stickybombs could sometimes damage enemies on the other side of a wall.

July 22, 2011 Patch

  • Updated the gamehaptics file.
    • Refined the Demoman's Stickybomb Launcher reload forces.

December 15, 2011 Patch (Australian Christmas 2011)

December 19, 2011 Patch

  • Festive Stickybomb Launchers can now be gifted.

April 27, 2012 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Stickybombs and grenades now have a team-colored aura when fired and a rapidly flashing critical particle effect.

May 3, 2012 Patch

  • Fixed a rendering error affecting sticky bomb particle effects.

August 15, 2012 Patch (Mann vs. Machine Update)

  • [Undocumented] Added Silver and Gold Botkiller variants.

October 9, 2012 Patch

  • Added Rust, Blood, Carbonado, and Diamond Botkiller variants.

December 20, 2012 Patch (Mecha Update)

  • Added Silver and Gold Botkiller Mk. II variants.

February 14, 2013 Patch

  • Added multicolored-lights style to the Festive Stickybomb Launcher.
  • Fixed the Stickybomb Launcher using the wrong RED team arms skin while on the BLU team.

February 15, 2013 Patch

  • Fixed the BLU team Stickybomb Launcher using the Scottish Resistance material when dropped into the world.

November 21, 2013 Patch (Two Cities Update)

June 18, 2014 Patch (Love & War Update)

  • All Demoman stickybombs now have damage ramp up. Full damage is reached 2 seconds after firing.

June 23, 2014 Patch

  • Reverted the recent stickybomb damage ramp up change. We will continue to evaluate the use of stickybomb air detonations and potential changes to that mechanic.

September 10, 2014 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Demoman can no longer detonate sticky bombs while taunting.

September 15, 2014 Patch

  • Demoman can no longer detonate sticky bombs while taunting.

December 22, 2014 Patch (Smissmas 2014)

  • Stickybombs that detonate in the air now have a radius ramp up, starting at 85% at base arm time (0.8s) going back to 100% over 2 seconds. Stickybombs that touch the world will have full radius.
  • Stickybombs now have a more visible trail while traveling through the air.
  • Stickybombs arm particle is slightly more visible.
  • Damage variance on stickybombs reduced from +/- 10% damage to +/-2%.
  • Stickybombs now have the same base blast radius as rockets. Changed from 159Hu to 146Hu.

January 7, 2015 Patch

  • Fixed the air detonation radius for stickybomb jumps.
  • Fixed stickybombs not using distance falloff during damage calculations for the first 5 seconds after being created.

July 2, 2015 Patch #1 (Gun Mettle Update)

  • [Undocumented] Updated model to c_model system.

August 27, 2015 Patch

  • Updated the materials for the Stickybomb Launcher.

December 17, 2015 Patch (Tough Break Update)

  • Updated description to better detail the weapon's functionality.

February 29, 2016 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Updated all Stickybomb Launcher's reload sounds.

December 13, 2017 Patch

  • Fixed not being able to detonate stickybombs when switching to melee with secondary attack held down.
  • Fixed the charge sound for the Stickybomb Launcher not stopping if the player switches weapons while charging.

March 28, 2018 Patch #1

  • Fixed stickybombs sometimes blocking explosive damage from other stickybombs.

July 25, 2019 Patch (Summer 2019 Pack)

  • Fixed and(sic) exploit where stickybombs could not be destroyed or pushed by the enemy team.

Unused content

Unused Pipebomb model.
  • Based on its name displayed on the stats page, the Stickybomb Launcher was originally supposed to be the Pipebomb Launcher, a weapon from the original Team Fortress. It is thought to have been similar to the Grenade Launcher except that its grenades would only detonate when the player pressed the alt fire key (as seen in Trailer 2). The Pipebomb Launcher's grenade is still in the game files.

Bugs

  • The Scottish Resistance-specific achievement Sticky Thump can sometimes be earned with this weapon.
  • When changing styles on the festive variant, the preview does not show the festive lights.
  • Stickybombs detonated manually do not leave explosion decals, but stickybombs detonated automatically do.
  • Dying while charging a stickybomb does not stop the charge sound from playing.
  • The backpack icon for the Stickybomb Launcher is an old model, with the ejection port on the other side.

Trivia

  • In real life, a "sticky bomb" refers to an adhesive-coated "squash head" explosive developed as an anti-tank grenade for the British Armed Forces in the Second World War following the loss of much of their armour-piercing guns after the Battle of France. Unlike the in-game Stickybomb Launcher, these would require the removal of their metal casing to expose the adhesive surface before being hand-thrown or affixed to an armored target, detonating on a conventional timed fuse.
  • The description of the Black Watch suggests the Demoman's stickybombs were accidentally invented by the "desperately sober" Fifth Battalion of the eponymous Black Watch during an attempt to make liquor out of gunpowder.
  • The Stickybomb Launcher bears a resemblance to a weapon cut from Half-Life 2, named the "Sticky Launcher". Had it been included, it would have functioned in an almost identical manner, except that its projectiles would stick to enemies as well as map surfaces.

Gallery

Merchandise

See also