What is a good strategy to deal with lots of engineers turtling on the other team?

Question

Now that the Engineer update has come, there will be lots of Engineers building up everywhere. How should this best be handled?

Answer 1

Lots of medics with lots of ubers on high-damage-dealing classes. Demomen, if they are any good, usually work best against a sentry farm — stickies are perfect for this job, the usual problem is living long enough to deploy and detonate enough of them.

Heavies or pyros can also be effective, if they can get close enough (short range for a heavy, point-blank for a pyro) without being overwhelmed by the knockback before they can do damage. The medic should lead the uber combo in (particularly if the partner is a heavy) — he's faster, so he can absorb the knockback better.

If at all possible, back the uber team(s) up with as much raw firepower as you can muster — the aim is to either overwhelm the engies' ability to repair stuff, take out the engies directly, or take out dispensers. Soldiers are good for this support role, as they can place well-aimed damage from behind the uber. Demos can support well, too — their indirect fire can damage engies and dispensers without having to kill the sentry first.

Sending a spy in to sap just before or during the uber(s) can be a good idea, too.

Answer 2

As a long-time engineer player, I'd say my sentry has been killed by a soldier or demo more than anything else.

Spies are useful in hectic situations but not when there are multiple alert engineers, and ubers are useful but require careful coordination and are very limited.

I say, go with corner-edging soldiers and sneaky demos. A big enough concentration of them can just cause so much damage the engineers can't keep up.

Also, any source of crits (buff banner, krit medic) can be a great help. It doesn't do extra damage to the sentry but it can definitely do some serious damage to the engineer healing it.

Answer 3

For pre-update senties, they will always shoot at the closest enemy. Run an uber up front to take all the sentry fire, and let the rest of your team stand behind and focus fire on the sentries without getting shot (By the sentries at least). Soldiers work well for this, as they can straight-shoot the sentries from a distance. Direct-hit especially so. Just remember you need at least two soldiers per sentry or the engineer can out-repair the damage.

Watch out for pyros air-blasting you with this method. Kill them first if you can.

Whenever ubers attack sentries, the medic should run ahead of their buddy. This allows the medic to take the brunt of the knockback and allows both players to get closer. This is especially important when there are multiple sentries, because the accumulated knockback can push a demo or heavy back beyond their effective range.

Answer 4

A lot of engineers usually involves a lot of teleports.

As a spy, alert your team about your intentions and go to sap the teleports entrances. These will cause the engineers move the focus out of the sentries and your team should be able to put them down. 1 uber or 2 could help. ;)

Answer 5

Unfortunately, twiddling your thumbs behind your own base isn't going to win your team the round. If there are that many Engies, Spies will probably be ineffective.

Grab yourself some medics and frontline (or take 'em from behind) forces like Heavies, Soldiers, or Demomen, uber, and advance. Side tip : as you advance, have your progress reinforced by your own engineers setting up on newly-won terrain behind you. This will help your new ground to hold out longer.

Class updates will always create all-of-a-sudden influlxes of the respective classes, but just remember their strengths and weaknesses, and don't feel too overwhelmed.