Gaming
Team Fortress 2, Teamwork and You!
April 30, 2008: Added icons to make skimming for more specific things easier.
May 6, 2008: Added a bit more content relating to the Medic unlockables.
Teamwork is absolutely key in Team Fortress 2! The word "team" is in the title of the game, after all... and it's always so much more rewarding when both teams are somewhat evenly matched, which I hope I'll help to promote with this guide. Be warned that this guide is somewhat out of date... but here are some useful general tips and strategies.
Table of Contents!
General
The Golden Rule of Teamwork, AKA: "Acknowledge others' teamwork!"
Did that friendly Medic just heal you? Has the team's Engineer built a dispenser near a hotspot where the rest of your team is fighting? When you and a teammate ran übercharged into an enemy Engineers' nest, did a friendly Spy start sapping the crap out of everything and begin stabbing enemies to help make the job easier? Don't let the game's simple autoreply be a half-assed expression of your gratitude, thank them personally or compliment them! It reinforces good behavior and they'll be much more likely to repeat their useful actions no matter which server they're playing on. If you don't see their name and don't have the time to check, calling them by their class and noting what they did works too: they know who they are and what they did!
Keep in Touch
Communication is key to victory! While communication by typing is always available, it's not advisable to use while danger is around... meaning that it's best to wait for an area to be cleared of enemy influence before typing (or when waiting in respawn-limbo, where a typed warning might already be too late to make a difference). If anybody on the other team already coordinates with their teammates via voicecomm, you and your team are already at a disadvantage if none of you and your teammates do the same. Which leads to the next point:
Voice communication is almost essential to any successful round of TF2, even on public servers. This way, you can coordinate your movements and teamwork much more quickly and easily than by typing. You can also tell others where groups of enemies and Spies are (also what their disguises are or if they're cloaked, and to look out if there's one about to strike!).
Alltalk servers are the bane of good verbal coordination (though it isn't impossible to be secretive if you can be vague enough to give your enemies few clues but descriptive enough for your teammates to understand. Things like "let's go together" "this way" and "over here/there")! Alltalk servers make it so that everybody, regardless of team, can hear each other's voice communication. Even spectators can join in! It's also not uncommon that alltalk servers have many players more keen on being abrasive and annoying to each other for the sake of "fun". You can check to see whether or not a server has alltalk enabled by looking at a server's tags in the Custom tab of the server browser, or by checking a server's settings via GameMonitor. If sv_alltalk is set to 0, people can only communicate with their own team. If sv_alltalk is set to 1, then everybody can hear each other!
Good Medics, Engineers and Spies are especially in need of using voice communication: since a Medic, Engineer or Spy isn't concentrating on personally killing everything that approaches, they can concentrate on their surroundings and what's in it. This makes them very essential for calling out incoming threats and helping their teammates coordinate in general.
Score != Skill
Contrary to the ideas that many still have from the old deathmatch days, one's score or kill-to-death ratio in a team game is not necessarily the determination of all of their skill and definitely not a determination of whether or not their team will win. It just means that they're doing their job. If a highly-skilled offensive player has a high score, they're likely making a lot of kills and (hopefully) capturing objectives along the way. And this point leads nicely into the next section...
Stability FTW! AKA: "Offense, support and defense are made for each other."
I'll be a little philosophical for a moment... triangles are very strong, stable shapes, right? That's why some bridges are supported by metal frames made of interlocking triangles and can support a lot of weight. Three balanced things working together are often very effective at doing what they do, and removing or weakening one side of the triangle would weaken the shape as a whole.
So given the design of TF2, this idea of three-sided strength is its ideal: offensive players are only truly good against a well-balanced enemy team if they have a well-balanced defense and support to prop them up; defensive players are only useful if they're complimented by a good offense and support; support players are only truly effective if they're helping a good offense and defense. This is why really good defensive and supportive players can often score on the same level as their offensive counterparts, and sometimes even scoring much better than them. In ideal circumstances, the offense, defense and support players of a team successfully balance each other and work together to make themselves collectively strong!
Without any good offensive players, the good defense and support players don't have anybody to take bullets for them, distract enemies from their work behind-the-scenes or to take out major incoming threats. The offense does the grunt work.
Without any good defensive players, the good offense and support players don't have anybody to help them hold the front line, keep their objectives secure or help to add a little extra firepower. The defense provides backup to teammates.
Without any good supportive players, the good offense and defense players don't have anybody to heal them, supply them with ammunition, fill holes in the team's strategy or alert them to danger. The support handles the [logistics](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/logistics "definition of logistics") for their team.
Keep in mind that Valve's basic classifications on the class selection screen are just that: very basic. They used those classifications to make it clear and easy for newbies to figure out the easiest or most useful general roles that the nine classes perform, but all of the classes can be played in at least two of the three ways. In the following, each class's easiest function is mentioned first, hardest last, and then I mention the more specific tasks that each is best at:
Offense and Support. (capturing, harassment, *minor* area denial)
Offense, Defense and Support. (pushing the line, harassment, spy-checking, counter-Übercharge)
Defense and Offense. (spy-checking, harassment, *minor* area denial)
Defense, Offense and Support. (area denial, pushing the line)
Defense, Support and Offense. (area denial, *minor* pushing the line, spy-checking, counter-Übercharge)
Defense, Support and Offense. (area denial, resupply, transport, spy-checking, observation, alerting)
Support and Defense. (healing, enabling others to push the line, observation, alerting, spy-checking)
Support and Defense. (surgical strikes, observation, alerting, *minor* area denial)
Support and Offense. (surgical strikes, observation, alerting, harassment)
So given these things, there's a ton of things that players of each role can do to help each other.
Finding Purpose
Be useful! Don't play a class that isn't needed at the time, but try to play as a class that you're good at and in a role that you're comfortable with. You can ask others to play different classes if you really can't be useful \(or if it'd make you really miserable\) as a different but still-needed class.
Adjust your short-term goals as you play... that means that you should adapt your strategies to what is going on, or what might forseeably happen! Example: if you want to play as a Spy but the enemy team is going nuts with the spy-checking, it'd be best to go play as another class until the map changes or "lie low" (as in just observing and relaying information about the enemy to your team) until they're lulled back into a false sense of security.
So... are useful people dying too often or is your team getting nowhere fast? Help them out with backup:
Stuck in a Rut?
Is a constant onslaught of enemies making it hard to advance? These classes are ideal for disrupting the enemy, breaking their forward line and pushing them backwards \(best when two or more classes work together, of course\):
Sapping, stabbing and recon. Very effective in coordinated teams of two, but a single Spy really only needs other teammates acting to draw the enemy's attention away from their shady doings by starting a fight nearby.
You can coordinate with a friendly Medic and their Übercharge target when they want to clear an area out: begin to sap and/or stab as the übercharged duo approach with their guns blazing! Be sure to directly help your teammates take out key targets before helping them "clean up": taking out enemy sentries, teleporters, Medics, Engineers, Demomen, Soldiers and Snipers are highest priority!
Confusion and harassment. When übered, to take out Engineer nests with level 2 or 3 sentries.
Pyros don't always need an Übercharge to help them destroy level 1 or 2 sentries if they catch the sentry aiming at something else and circle-strafe around it while flaming. They're also far more effective when their teammates are distracting the enemy from the fiery doom that's about to flank them!
Destroying Engineer nests with or without an Übercharge, blowing up/slowing incoming enemies with grenade spam and carpets of stickies at chokepoints. Put stickies on the walls and low ceilings at chokepoints (or control points/intel areas) for maximum effectiveness.
Try to spread out your stickies and wait for more than one enemy to be standing on your minefield before detonating. Far too many Demomen assume that throwing a bunch of stickies in a small area will be more effective than spreading them out, where it's actually the opposite: none of your enemies are going to stand still for long and spreading your sticky bombs farther apart is more likely to catch them -- and their teammates -- in the blast radius when you detonate, especially when dealing with Scouts.
General quick harassment and spreading frustration and confusion. This is best in coordinated teams of two at most, and can be carried out alone if the Scout is highly skilled.
One or two Scouts who make an effort to harass incoming enemies during a Scout rush can slow them and buy your team some time to capture the control point!
For when your team advances beyond a chokepoint, to effectively deny the enemy from re-establishing themselves in that area.
This is best with a Medic buddy -- just because a Heavy has a lot of health and a big gun doesn't mean that they're tough to get rid of.
To pick off targets of immediate interest, such as Medics, Engineers, defensive Demomen and other Snipers.
Class Warfare; AKA: "Despite your differences, you can get along if you really want to."
Do you and your teammates select classes that compliment each other's strengths/weaknesses and work together when you should?
In a round where there is two or more Spies, having at least one Pyro around playing defensively is a good idea -- especially if those Spies are playing offensively!
Is your team trying to push through a chokepoint, and are they having trouble because they need more ammunition and a bit of backup? Don't let them take turns getting that tiny little ammo box when it respawns: one of the team's Engineers should begin playing more supportively and build a dispenser and sentry not far behind where their teammates are fighting!
If you're a Medic with a regular Medigun and a full Übercharge, and a fellow Medic has a full Übercharge and a Kritzkrieg along with a teammate and have some room-clearing to do, why not grab another teammate to accompany you as backup? The other Medic uses their Übercharge to give their target 10 seconds worth of critical hits, you Übercharge the Medic so he doesn't die, and if that Medic's Kritzkrieg target dies or has to reload, the backup teammate can take over.
Outta My Way!
When a friendly Medic is trying to keep a group of teammates alive, try to not get in the way of their healing if possible. The medigun is pretty finicky to aim, so if you or a teammate rushes in front of a wounded teammate, or if your teammates are closely crowded together as a Medic activates his medigun, it'll very likely lock onto somebody other than the intended healing target.
Drop It Like It's Hot
If you're playing a CTF map and you have captured the enemy's intel, if you come across a teammate that has a faster running speed, spy-check them first and if they're safe, then ask them if they'll run the intel for you. Drop the intel for them \(the default key is "L"\) and stay behind to see if you can slow the enemy's pursuit of their stolen intel!
The different classes run at these general "speeds" compared to the average of 100%:
Scout: 133% Medic: 107% Spy: 100% Pyro: 100% Engineer: 100% Sniper: 100% Demoman: 93% Soldier: 80% Heavy: 77% without minigun spinning, 27% with minigun spinning
Combo du Jour
Some classes do exceptionally well when paired with an attentive Medic, whether or not they have a full Übercharge ready!
The Heavy and Medic combination is one of the oldest Medic pairings... though very arguably useless in most situations these days, they're still very effective when the scenario is right: Heavies are most useful in medium or close-range, but their miniguns are only really effective in mowing people down (so attacking Engineer nests is not advised unless if it's directly around a corner, for example)... so a Heavy with a Medic buddy (whether übercharging or just healing) is highly effective in clearing enemies out of relatively close-quarters areas and crowded short corridors.
A well-coordinated Pyro and Medic combination can be *extremely* lethal with an Übercharge, and is the most recent Medic pairing of choice. Not only can the Pyro's flamethrower send roomfuls of enemies running away, screaming for a Medic, they can take out large nests of fully-upgraded sentries along with their Engineers, teleporters and dispensers in one fell swoop. Keep in mind that the Pyro is only effective at short-range and can usually only easily burn sentries on the same level as him (it is very difficult for a Pyro to burn a sentry from above or below the edge of a ledge), and their accompanying Medic will have to use their Übercharge and faster speed to help the Pyro get close to enemy sentries!
A Demoman and a Medic can make an exceptional Übercharge team for clearing out Engineer nests... if the Demoman knows what to do and where the nests are located: he just needs to place three or four stickies at the base of a \[level 3\] sentry gun and detonate them to take it out. The Engineer attending the sentry will likely die, as well. The Demoman's attacks are most effective if he can aim precisely, and so they're often the most effective short- to medium-range, and in areas that aren't wide open or have enough cover to help them avoid too much knockback from the sentries. The attending Medic can also help their Demoman to more accurately plant their stickies if they use the Übercharge strategy I suggested in the Pyro's paragraph above -- it's even more useful, since the Demoman has a slower running speed than the Pyro and can't resist a sentry's knockback as much!
The Soldier isn't normally a target of choice for a Medic to give an Übercharge to, but he's a good option if there aren't any sentries to worry about but plenty of enemies cramming themselves in a small area: if the Soldier can reload their rocket launcher efficiently and aim well enough kill a few enemies, the dreaded crit rockets that result from their übered killing spree can make quick work of a good chunk of the enemy team... but only if they're crowded together like lemmings on a death march!
Note that in every case involving sentries and Engineer nests, these pairings do even better when they're coordinating with a friendly Spy who uses their sappers to help make the sweep of Engineer nests take far less time... leaving more invulnerability and allowing for extra destruction!
Structural Integrity; AKA: "You don't learn this in engineering school."
Engineers benefit by having other Engineers nearby. They can repair and upgrade each other's buildings, so if one Engineer dies then the other can keep his nest in working order. This also means that at least one Engineer can stay behind to tend to their nest when their buddy needs to go build or rebuild their teleporter.
Engineers can support each other by coordinating what to build and where. It's very easy to build a sentry nest when two (or more) are involved: one Engineer builds a sentry, the other builds a dispenser nearby... and then they both begin hammering on the sentry to upgrade it quickly!
They also benefit from having a Pyro nearby to check for Spies. This is mostly only useful when Spies are already trying to sabotage your team's Engineer placements and messing with your nearby teammates.
Having a Demoman place a few stickies among an Engineer's buildings can be extremely useful for Spy elimination and making them think twice about sabotage. The Demoman only needs to stay within earshot of the Engineer they're helping, since you can hear the Engineer's autoreply of "Spy sappin' my [building]!" and immediately detonate the payload!
Engineers can really help their teammates out by building dispensers near areas where their teammates are engaged in heavy fighting, even more now that the Demoman and Soldier now carry less ammunition as of the February 28th (2008) patch! This is highly recommended if the round keeps on ending up in Sudden Death or a stalemate.
Heavies can essentially turn themselves into a much smarter (and faster in terms of response time... and movement speed! ;D ) equivalent to a level 2 sentry gun, only with nearly-infinite ammo, simply by standing guard at a friendly Engineer's dispenser!
Of Arson and Pyromania
For the best results in any ambush (as a Pyro or otherwise), you'll need to catch the enemy off-guard: why not find a way to sneak up behind your enemies as they're engaging a group of your teammates head-on? This is an awesomely effective example of indirect teamwork!
Though Pyros are the most devastating ambushers in the game and often do poorly if they charge into the fray head-on, if you can catch your enemy at least half-ways off-guard then you can still do some serious damage! If you can manage to get close enough before being noticed and then dodge their fire until you're within range to flame them, strafe to one side of them and circle around them (works best with a single enemy or tight groups of enemies). If you can catch a group somewhat off-guard, and especially if they're unaccompanied by a heavy damage-dealing class (or you manage to kill that player quickly), you can push the remaining enemies backwards and allow your teammates to advance!
Scout rushes are almost always more successful with one or two good Pyros accompanying them to the control point!
Snipers benefit from having a friendly Pyro occasionally come by to spy-check their area, especially on maps like Well, Granary and 2Fort where there are designated Sniper nests overlooking frequently-travelled areas. This works quite nicely because Sniper areas are often nice spots for disguised enemy Spies that are trying to get a better overview of what's going on in the area.
Spy Games
While detecting Spies is seen by some as just an annoying necessity (or for the Spies themselves, a *very* annoying obstacle), it's really a basic but very essential way to work for the team while not necessarily working directly with your team.
Spies who hate all that paranoid spy-checking can also use this part of the guide to hopefully help refine their knowledge and strategies... I don't claim to know all there is to know about playing as a Spy, (I very rarely play as one, so I have little advice to offer in terms of playing) but if all else fails then you should choose another class or stick to observing the enemy and reporting their doings to your team until the enemy team drops their guard again. Spies can't best everybody in every situation like James Bond in the movies: just as with every class in TF2, they have built-in strengths, weaknesses and limits of usefulness depending on who they're up against. That means that even if you're a really good Spy, playing against an equally good enemy is still very difficult. Keep heart, though -- Valve realizes that the Spy's balance in relation to the other classes is lacking, and has stated in a few e-mail replies to TF2 fans that they're looking into ways to keep the Spy an effective class even as players' skills and playstyles continue to mature.
So... are enemy Spies being a nuisance? Pyros (and others) should shift part of their efforts towards spy-checking: it makes Spies hesitant and less willing to harass your team so much, and makes them miserable overall.
You will always be able to walk through teammates and friendly Engineer structures (exception: Engineers can't walk through their own structures)... so if you get blocked by a teammate or invisible impassible wall that briefly flashes as a translucent enemy-teamcolored silhouette, you've found an enemy Spy! Spies can't pass through enemy Engineer structures either: that means Engineers are a good choice for "trial by fire" first, followed by Pyros, Demomen and Soldiers.
If you think about it, it's actually a good idea for a Spy to use a friendly disguise while still travelling with their teammates... any passing enemy stragglers or Spies won't see you as what you really are... or as a "teammate" living peacefully among a horde of enemies and report your existance and disguise to their teammates. You can also blend in very well with your teammates once you reach the frontlines, allowing you to size up the situation before getting out of enemy sight, choosing an appropriate disguise and heading in with your cloak on.
Disguised Spies will always appear as having the disguised class's primary weapon out (never switching weapons or reloading), and they have about 66% health (their health icon would appear to only be filled to the top of the middle crossbar), unless if they've been healed (read: actually buffed) by a friendly OR enemy Medic. Damaging a disguised enemy Spy will NOT make their health visibly decrease, even when buffed. Given this, it's a VERY good idea to ask a friendly Medic for a buff before heading out on a sapping/stabbing/recon run even if the enemy team isn't paranoid about Spies just yet.
To spy-check from a distance, it's best to be a Demoman or Soldier... fire a rocket or contact grenade directly at the suspected Spy (not at their feet!), and if they're a Spy either it'll explode on contact with them or they'll try to dodge your projectile: it's very difficult for a Spy to "act natural" when there's an explosive heading straight for their face!
Disguised newbie or intermediate Spies can also be singled out if you notice a teammate being especially attentive to what you and your teammates are up to, all while doing absolutely nothing and hanging behind rest of your teammates and avoiding getting close to friendly players or buildings.
If the suspected Spy has the name of a person known to use voicecomm, ask them by name if it's really them at that location, playing the class they appear to be (you'll see a teamcolored speech bubble above their head if they really are who they look to be) or try walking through them... or pre-emptively offer a light, a grenade to the face, a couple rockets, or a few whacks with a melee weapon to see if they keel over as a dead Spy. If they're a teammate, they'll likely say something over voicecomm, or switch weapons/fire a weapon to show their innocence.
MEDIC!
You probably need a Medic... or two or three, depending on the size of your team and what your team's goals are in the given map. Medics are the ultimate team-players, after all! That means that those novice Medics who stay superglued to one or a select few teammates' rear ends don't seem to get the point of their chosen class.
As a Medic, your highest priority is to heal your teammates. Sure, the Übercharge is your special game-winning ability but you need to heal others to get it. Even going all crazy on your foes as a combat Medic is much more fun for some players because of the "WTF" factor... but don't take the task of healing as an annoying and bland side-job: it's your first job, and your teammates need a good healer much more desperately than an Übercharge or extra grunt! Playing as Medic can be very fun and rewarding once you get past the newbie stage where you're intentionally gluing yourself to a few select classes/teammates and constantly cowering behind every bit of cover you can find.
Medics are only useful alive (like every other class, but much moreso!), so they should be actively trying to stay out of enemy fire, dodge bullets/explosives like a maniac and keeping an eye (and bonesaw) out for stabby Spies! Running away, or even "wasting" an Übercharge is okay if you're low on health (in the red) because it aids you in getting to cover and finding backup if you're ever caught alone or in an overly dangerous situation! Even if you're not playing a Medic, keep an eye on your Medics (and their health) and help them when they're in danger!
The Blutsauger unlockable syringe gun replacement is pretty dang useful for a retreating Medic who got left all alone because of an unattentive teammate's untimely death, since it gives you a bit of health with every syringe that successfully hits an enemy. If you have decent aim with the regular syringe gun then it's not a bad idea at all to use the Blutsauger instead of the basic one, even despite the its complete inability to inflict critical hits (so killing anybody is unlikely). Earning 12 of the 36 Medic achievements will get you access to it!
When a Medic is healing somebody, both the Medic and his target can view each other's health in the center of their screen. Try to keep an eye on your your Medics' health, too!
If you accidentally heal an enemy Spy, it isn't always a death sentence. It can actually be used as psychological warfare, and it makes them think that they've tricked you into believing their disguise. Wait a moment or two to let them affirm their trickery as successful while making sure that they don't try to walk behind you for a backstab, then whip out your bonesaw and give them a few whacks before they try introducing their knife to your back. The bonesaw has a rather high rate of critical hits if you're doing your job, so you'll likely take them out in ~3-4 hits whether the Spy is buffed or not.
Medics are the most in need of making their intentions clear to their teammates! An example: if you spend a long time with your medigun's beam on a teammate during a a lull in the battle, some of them take it as a sign that you'll stick with them. Tell your teammates openly (by name!) when you don't intend to stick to them or follow them out for a fight, or if you intend to head elsewhere. This is also a good idea if you intend to retreat when your Übercharge is about to run out (you should, if plausible!), so that your teammate has a chance to retreat as well!
Lining Up for the Triage
Medics should learn to efficiently prioritize who to heal first. A very general "triage" order, from highest priority to lowest (with exceptions mentioned) is:
1. Those low on health (red health bar. Heavies should be last priority, unless if they're VERY low on health or are constantly being shot at. A combination of either plus being on fire... heal that Heavy quickly!).
2. Those in the line of enemy gunfire (and it doesn't hurt to have two Medics healing them if they're actively denying the enemy from advancing).
3. Other friendly Medics (those low on health should be *first* in order, no matter whether they're being shot at or not: Medics are prime targets for elimination in most cases).
4. Those on fire (can be higher priority depending on how much health they have left, what class they are and if they're being attacked. Examples: Medics on fire should be healed first if nobody's in danger of dying very soon since they can handle some of the other healing work for you. Heavies on fire should be saved for last unless if their health is deeply in the red, especially if taking damage from other sources).
5. When their sentry nests are being heavily assaulted, Engineers (especially when being attacked by Pyros or Demomen).
6. Those who have a moderate amount of health left.
7. Those with a high amount of health left.
8. Those who need buffing (absolutely last priority... except if you want to buff a fellow Medic when they intend to brave enemy fire to use their Übercharge and nobody nearby is in danger of dying).
Think of the Little People!
Contrary to what a lot of Medics think, it's not a bad idea at all to heal these classes:
Though Engineers usually have a dispenser nearby to supply them with metal, ammo and health, a machine is never a replacement for a Medic! As a Medic, you can dodge the enemy's projectiles, retreat behind cover and slowly regenerate your own health -- dispensers can't!
While the Scout's speed allows them to be really self-reliant and most decent Scouts learn to depend on healthpacks instead of Medics for healing, let them know that you'd heal them if they want: just make sure that they know not run too far away while you're still trying to work your magic.
Snipers need health, too! If they die, there's nobody to pick off incoming threats from a safe distance. Though honestly, they're rather low on the triage: even Heavies come sooner, since they're more likely to draw fire and get heavily injured quickly.
While it's not advisable to heal friendly Spies on the front lines \(unless if they have a friendly disguise on or are running away on fire\), if a masked Spy approaches you asking for a Medic then it can't hurt to humor them: they're obviously on your side. Spy-check any maskless friendly Spies if they're yelling for a heal!
Buff plz!
Buffing key teammates can help a lot more than you think!
Buffing Medics right before they intend to utilize their Übercharge will give them extra health so they can brave an incoming barrage of projectiles, and buy them time to trigger their Über farther into enemy territory.
When they're hiding behind cover while waiting for a good moment to sneak behind enemy lines or during round setup, buffing friendly Spies can help them more easily blend in among your enemies later on! Just make sure that they're not in view of any enemies if they're disguised as an enemy.
Telling that Heavy, Soldier, Pyro or Demoman to wait a moment for a buff before they head out into the fray might just save them from waiting to respawn and walk back, even if you don't keep your medigun's beam on them when they step out of cover and into enemy fire.
Übermensch!
Make sure that you know that your Übercharge or Über-juggling targets aren't Spies in disguise... if they're not paralyzed by their sociopathic amusement (;D), they'll probably turn around and go sap-and-stab-happy on those of your teammates unfortunate enough to not receive your gift of temporary invulnerability!
Keep in mind that an enemy Spy in disguise that you Übercharge will not have an enemy-teamcolored Über sheen unless if they drop their disguise!
Medics can actually share an Übercharge with two targets at once, if you "juggle" your medigun's beam rapidly between two teammates. This will drain your Übercharge meter a bit faster the more teammates you share it with!
If a friendly Medic ever has to blow their Übercharge early for self-preservation, it's a very good idea if their more offensive teammates jump in to help out, so as to make the Medic's act of self-preservation not as wasted as if they and their target get caught surrounded by enemies when their invulnerability wears off.
It's not a bad idea for a group of teammates to accompany an übercharged Medic and their patient even if it was a planned attack. The übercharged duo will take most of the bullets (at least sentry bullets/rockets), and that's all you need to come in and help sweep the place clean of enemy influence!
An Übercharge also allows you to let your teammates closer to an enemy level 2 or 3 sentry: activate your Übercharge on a teammate (a Pyro or Demoman are ideal) and run into the sentry's line of fire, and charge straight towards it. The point of this is that you're invulnerable for ten seconds AND the second fastest class after the Scout, so you can resist the sentry's knockback more easily than your Übercharge buddy and make yourself the sentry's primary target. This helps your teammates concentrate their fire on it without being killed or knocked away by the sentry... and you ultimately have more time being invulnerable to spend on carving your way through the enemy's lines!
No matter what level the sentry is, both you and your Übercharge buddy should *not* jump or let yourselves become airborne or you will be knocked farther away. If you get knocked away by the sentry or an enemy's explosives, the attempt to draw the sentry's fire only to yourself will very likely be wasted or its effectiveness decreased. This is why a Demoman is a good Übercharge buddy if a Pyro couldn't possibly get within range of damaging a sentry. A Pyro can't get close enough to a sentry in locations lower or higher than they can run to while keeping their feet on the ground, especially if the Medic isn't taking sentry bullets for them!
Min Rizor is proficient in defensive-support Demolition, is kind of a Pyromaniac and dabbles a bit in Heavy Weaponry, but her first true skills were in Medicine. Huzzah!
