The ultimate guide to the spy
Redford
Monorailcatfjord Join Date: 2002-04-28 Member: 528Members, NS1 Playtester
Monorailcatfjord Join Date: 2002-04-28 Member: 528Members, NS1 Playtester
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->A brief note from the creator<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
A few of you here may be wondering "Wait, what is a guide for TF2 doing in an ENNESS FORUM?! Well, the reason is that unlike NS, TF2 does not have a highly centralized community. If I were to post this guide on some TF2 forum I would be flamed by 17 agasty teenagers, someone would decompose it point by point just to prove everything I said was wrong, and it would fall off the board before anyone could enjoy or use it. So I am posting it here for the TF2 players among us while we wait for NS2. Cherish and enjoy this guide, but more importantly, post feedback. I will update it and if you make a particularly devious addition I will include it with the proper credits.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An Introduction<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
About a week ago I was sitting in a small, featureless room. I had applied for an optional course on "playing your class to the best of your ability" and this particular workshop was based around being a spy. I was a terrible spy. I allways missed my backstabs, seemed to uncloak in the worst possible places, and never, ever, managed to kill a sentry gun. I was hopeless. Even mother agreed that I was hopeless. I'd show them all. At some point within the next half hour, I started to fall asleep. Considering the room was nothing but a tiny white box I can only guess at the amount of time I sat in there. Suddenly, I hear a voice whispering in my ear.
"This is your first lesson, a spy waits as long as needed, but never misses an opportunity."
But the door was still closed, and I was facing it, so how did he ge-
After I had respawned I was introduced to my instructor proper. After assuring me that he meant nothing by slipping his butterfly dagger between my backbones, he introduced himself. Or rather, he didn't. Every time I met him he seemed to be a different face and a different person. He said this was the second lesson for being a spy. Always keep your enemy guessing until the end. While he trained me in the art of the spy, I died. Many times. Oh, so many times. I quickly learned that death meant even less to this man then most men who have the blessing of a 10-second respawn timer. This was the third lesson. You do not survive to kill, you die to create an opportunity. Days passed and I got better at the art of the Spy. I quickly learned that even a tiny mistake in the execution of the spy's technique could lead to disaster. Enemies are suspicious. Even the best spy will be discovered eventually. This was lesson four and lesson five. Always produce a flawless infiltration, and work with speed, but do not hurry.
When we reached the final day, it was completely unexpected. A live fire course. Stealth was not allowed. I attempted to question my mentor but he did not listen. I died many more times. Eventually I learned the final lesson and why it was saved for last. When all else fails, know your weapons and do not fight like a spy.
In order to prove my skills I had to best my instructor in an infiltration combat course. In involved several elements in a timed sequence that a spy would need to perform properly in order to infiltrate the enemy base. I showed my skills well. Near the beginning of the course, there was a small door labeled "Course maintenance, do not enter." It easily pushed aside revealing a narrow dingy passageway which allowed me to skip most of the obstacles and observe the enemy spy (or was it?) silently waiting for me to come down the final corridor. I took great pleasure in finally backstabbing and killing him. Something was amiss. Wait. That wasn't...
"Congratulations. You pass."
And then my instructor killed me yet again.
This guide was written to assist the TF2 player in becoming a better spy. Of all the classes, the Spy has the most different techniques, weapons, and needs the most planning of all characters. This means that there are a whole lot of terrible spies out there and a few who have mastered these skills to a knife's edge. I would suggest against calling that spy who just killed half your team and paralyzed all your sentry guns lame and applaud his skills. It was much harder to accomplish then it seemed.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An overview: What is a spy?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The spy is the stealth-based archtype for Team Fortress 2. It is designed to eschew brute force and kill the enemy team using infiltration and misdirection techniques. Frequently the spy himself will secretly sneak to a cap point and take it, or kill or stun a vital enemy asset in death in order to allow the rest of his team make progress. In many cases the spy is not designed nor should he be used for pressure application. He instead creates weaknesses that allow other players to dismantle an enemy defense. This means that in skilled hands a spy can be considered a pressure multiplier. If the enemy is holding off a group of three soldiers and a medic and a spy shows up he could be the one character which turns the tide for the offense. Of course, since TF2 is an action based game at it's core, the spy also has reasonable firepower and in a pinch he can fight just as well as any 125 health class in a one-on-one fight. All of the very best spies do not think how they can get kills, but think how those kills can weaken an enemy element to collapse. This is not something considered by most people.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An Overview:When should I be a spy?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
A spy is most valuable against an entrenched and pressured enemy on offense. What this means that if the enemy defense is currently busy fighting off your more direct classes they are very distracted and can easly be crippled by the spy's skills. A spy is also deadly in similar situations where the enemy is applying great force. If used properly a spy can totally destroy an enemy offensive group creating a hole which allows for a counterattack. You should not use a spy so you can gain kills. If you kill someone as a spy, that person should have a greater importance then simply their death. This is very easy to type but in practice that isn't so easy to do. Sometimes you'll screw up an attempt and kill need to kill someone on the way out, and sometimes the enemy will not present an attempt and you will need to kill time by killing enemies until they make a mistake. Since a spy's techniques frequently revolve around their own death, however, spies are not a good choice for situations where you may not be able to afford to die, like in sudden death. In addition, sometimes you will encounter enemy teams which simply are not attacking or defending in a fashion that can be infiltrated and you will be forced to fall back on a class with brute force.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Lesson Zero: Know your equipment and yourself<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Class: Spy
Health: 125
Superhealth: 175
Footspeed: Variable (usually fast)
Damage: medium-v.high
And this is the most simplistic catalog of the spy you will ever get. The spy has four weapons (five if you count the Spy-o-matic InvisoWatch) and each one is totally different. You must master all to become a good spy.
Slot one: Revolver
Damage: medium
Accuracy: v.high
rate: medium
The revolver is your fallback combat weapon. If aimed well it can be quite deadly however you need to choose the correct time to use it. If you are stuck in a situation where you can't or won't use stealth then the revolver can be quite effective at dispatching most enemies. If you are interested, a 125 health class will die in 3 shots. A solider will take about 5. You'll need to reload for a heavy. As for sentry guns, a level 1 gun takes 4 bullets, a level 2 takes 5 bullets, and a level 3 takes six. Don't get any illusions of grandeur about sniping enemy sentry guns to death, however. Even though the revolver is pretty accurate you will miss many shots at long range, and like all weapons it will do more damage at close range. At very long range will will need to fire several loads into a sentry to even get close to killing it. Because of it's high single shots you will assist quite often if you are accurate.
Slot two: Spy-o-matic Electro Sappers
Damage: gradual
accuracy: N/A
rate: medium
Your electro-sappers are designed to disable and destroy enemy buildings. When you place a sapper on a building the sapper will isntantly disable it and start to damage it slowly. When this happens the engineer will gain an alert and will state "Spy's sappin' my *building*" which can be heard by him and everyone around him. Eventually, the sapper will deal enough damage to destroy the building or someone else will destroy it while it is disabled. An engineer (and only an engineer) can remove an electro-sapper with two strikes from the wrench. These strikes cost no metal, and do not repair or upgrade the building - they are used to damage the sapper. This means a persistent spy can have a strong advantage.
Slot three: Butterfly knife
Damage: Medium (V.high from behind)
accuracy: Melee
rate: medium
From the front, the butterfly knife is a terrible melee weapon. It doesn't deal enough damage for it's rate of fire and will be beaten by all other melee weapons at close range. However, when attacking from behind the knife distributes infinite damage (more or less) allowing the spy to instantly kill ANY class. Even a heavy with 450 superhealth will die instantly if stabbed by a spy. Most importantly there is no paticular need for a spy to be disguised while doing this - which can allow a spy to deal massive damage in a "fair" fight with some slick moves. If the knife crits on a backstab it doesn't distribute any more damage (technically, the number is about 1,350, which is three times more then you will ever have), but the animation is longer. This can be incredibly disruptive, since the knife doesn't actually deal it's damage until the animation finishes.
Slot four:Spy-o-matic Disguise kit
By using the disguise kit you light a cigarette which allows you to briefly assume the identity of any class and either side. If you are disguised you are considered a member of that team. Enemy medics will heal you, enemy dispensers will give you equipment, and enemy teleporters will teleport you. Most importantly, enemy sentry guns will ignore you. When you perform any attack other then planting an electro-sapper, the disguise will end. Choosing a disguise is as simple as pulling out the kit, and then pressing 1-9 for the varying classes. The disguises are generally foolproof, with a few exceptions. These will be discussed later. Finally, if you press B by default you will quick disguise. This will automatically disguise you as your last class, and can even be done while using your InvisioWatch.
Secondary Fire:Spy-o-matic InvisioWatch
When you have any spy equipment active you can press mouse2 in order to use your cloaking watch to become invisible. This is totally foolproof and you will automatically run at full speed while cloaked even if you are disguised as something slow. While invisible you can not be seen at all, with one exception. If you bump into an enemy, you will very shortly become visible, if only slightly. This is frequently long enough to get you killed. Since you are holding the cloak button on the watch, you can not attack or do anything with any other weapon (except quick disguise) while cloaked. As you uncloack, you must wait a split second to use any weapon - usually this isn't quite long enough to get you killed, but not always...
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Futher Lessons:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=103000&view=findpost&p=1657030" target="_blank">Lessons 1-3: Basic technique</a>
A few of you here may be wondering "Wait, what is a guide for TF2 doing in an ENNESS FORUM?! Well, the reason is that unlike NS, TF2 does not have a highly centralized community. If I were to post this guide on some TF2 forum I would be flamed by 17 agasty teenagers, someone would decompose it point by point just to prove everything I said was wrong, and it would fall off the board before anyone could enjoy or use it. So I am posting it here for the TF2 players among us while we wait for NS2. Cherish and enjoy this guide, but more importantly, post feedback. I will update it and if you make a particularly devious addition I will include it with the proper credits.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An Introduction<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
About a week ago I was sitting in a small, featureless room. I had applied for an optional course on "playing your class to the best of your ability" and this particular workshop was based around being a spy. I was a terrible spy. I allways missed my backstabs, seemed to uncloak in the worst possible places, and never, ever, managed to kill a sentry gun. I was hopeless. Even mother agreed that I was hopeless. I'd show them all. At some point within the next half hour, I started to fall asleep. Considering the room was nothing but a tiny white box I can only guess at the amount of time I sat in there. Suddenly, I hear a voice whispering in my ear.
"This is your first lesson, a spy waits as long as needed, but never misses an opportunity."
But the door was still closed, and I was facing it, so how did he ge-
After I had respawned I was introduced to my instructor proper. After assuring me that he meant nothing by slipping his butterfly dagger between my backbones, he introduced himself. Or rather, he didn't. Every time I met him he seemed to be a different face and a different person. He said this was the second lesson for being a spy. Always keep your enemy guessing until the end. While he trained me in the art of the spy, I died. Many times. Oh, so many times. I quickly learned that death meant even less to this man then most men who have the blessing of a 10-second respawn timer. This was the third lesson. You do not survive to kill, you die to create an opportunity. Days passed and I got better at the art of the Spy. I quickly learned that even a tiny mistake in the execution of the spy's technique could lead to disaster. Enemies are suspicious. Even the best spy will be discovered eventually. This was lesson four and lesson five. Always produce a flawless infiltration, and work with speed, but do not hurry.
When we reached the final day, it was completely unexpected. A live fire course. Stealth was not allowed. I attempted to question my mentor but he did not listen. I died many more times. Eventually I learned the final lesson and why it was saved for last. When all else fails, know your weapons and do not fight like a spy.
In order to prove my skills I had to best my instructor in an infiltration combat course. In involved several elements in a timed sequence that a spy would need to perform properly in order to infiltrate the enemy base. I showed my skills well. Near the beginning of the course, there was a small door labeled "Course maintenance, do not enter." It easily pushed aside revealing a narrow dingy passageway which allowed me to skip most of the obstacles and observe the enemy spy (or was it?) silently waiting for me to come down the final corridor. I took great pleasure in finally backstabbing and killing him. Something was amiss. Wait. That wasn't...
"Congratulations. You pass."
And then my instructor killed me yet again.
This guide was written to assist the TF2 player in becoming a better spy. Of all the classes, the Spy has the most different techniques, weapons, and needs the most planning of all characters. This means that there are a whole lot of terrible spies out there and a few who have mastered these skills to a knife's edge. I would suggest against calling that spy who just killed half your team and paralyzed all your sentry guns lame and applaud his skills. It was much harder to accomplish then it seemed.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An overview: What is a spy?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
The spy is the stealth-based archtype for Team Fortress 2. It is designed to eschew brute force and kill the enemy team using infiltration and misdirection techniques. Frequently the spy himself will secretly sneak to a cap point and take it, or kill or stun a vital enemy asset in death in order to allow the rest of his team make progress. In many cases the spy is not designed nor should he be used for pressure application. He instead creates weaknesses that allow other players to dismantle an enemy defense. This means that in skilled hands a spy can be considered a pressure multiplier. If the enemy is holding off a group of three soldiers and a medic and a spy shows up he could be the one character which turns the tide for the offense. Of course, since TF2 is an action based game at it's core, the spy also has reasonable firepower and in a pinch he can fight just as well as any 125 health class in a one-on-one fight. All of the very best spies do not think how they can get kills, but think how those kills can weaken an enemy element to collapse. This is not something considered by most people.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->An Overview:When should I be a spy?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
A spy is most valuable against an entrenched and pressured enemy on offense. What this means that if the enemy defense is currently busy fighting off your more direct classes they are very distracted and can easly be crippled by the spy's skills. A spy is also deadly in similar situations where the enemy is applying great force. If used properly a spy can totally destroy an enemy offensive group creating a hole which allows for a counterattack. You should not use a spy so you can gain kills. If you kill someone as a spy, that person should have a greater importance then simply their death. This is very easy to type but in practice that isn't so easy to do. Sometimes you'll screw up an attempt and kill need to kill someone on the way out, and sometimes the enemy will not present an attempt and you will need to kill time by killing enemies until they make a mistake. Since a spy's techniques frequently revolve around their own death, however, spies are not a good choice for situations where you may not be able to afford to die, like in sudden death. In addition, sometimes you will encounter enemy teams which simply are not attacking or defending in a fashion that can be infiltrated and you will be forced to fall back on a class with brute force.
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Lesson Zero: Know your equipment and yourself<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Class: Spy
Health: 125
Superhealth: 175
Footspeed: Variable (usually fast)
Damage: medium-v.high
And this is the most simplistic catalog of the spy you will ever get. The spy has four weapons (five if you count the Spy-o-matic InvisoWatch) and each one is totally different. You must master all to become a good spy.
Slot one: Revolver
Damage: medium
Accuracy: v.high
rate: medium
The revolver is your fallback combat weapon. If aimed well it can be quite deadly however you need to choose the correct time to use it. If you are stuck in a situation where you can't or won't use stealth then the revolver can be quite effective at dispatching most enemies. If you are interested, a 125 health class will die in 3 shots. A solider will take about 5. You'll need to reload for a heavy. As for sentry guns, a level 1 gun takes 4 bullets, a level 2 takes 5 bullets, and a level 3 takes six. Don't get any illusions of grandeur about sniping enemy sentry guns to death, however. Even though the revolver is pretty accurate you will miss many shots at long range, and like all weapons it will do more damage at close range. At very long range will will need to fire several loads into a sentry to even get close to killing it. Because of it's high single shots you will assist quite often if you are accurate.
Slot two: Spy-o-matic Electro Sappers
Damage: gradual
accuracy: N/A
rate: medium
Your electro-sappers are designed to disable and destroy enemy buildings. When you place a sapper on a building the sapper will isntantly disable it and start to damage it slowly. When this happens the engineer will gain an alert and will state "Spy's sappin' my *building*" which can be heard by him and everyone around him. Eventually, the sapper will deal enough damage to destroy the building or someone else will destroy it while it is disabled. An engineer (and only an engineer) can remove an electro-sapper with two strikes from the wrench. These strikes cost no metal, and do not repair or upgrade the building - they are used to damage the sapper. This means a persistent spy can have a strong advantage.
Slot three: Butterfly knife
Damage: Medium (V.high from behind)
accuracy: Melee
rate: medium
From the front, the butterfly knife is a terrible melee weapon. It doesn't deal enough damage for it's rate of fire and will be beaten by all other melee weapons at close range. However, when attacking from behind the knife distributes infinite damage (more or less) allowing the spy to instantly kill ANY class. Even a heavy with 450 superhealth will die instantly if stabbed by a spy. Most importantly there is no paticular need for a spy to be disguised while doing this - which can allow a spy to deal massive damage in a "fair" fight with some slick moves. If the knife crits on a backstab it doesn't distribute any more damage (technically, the number is about 1,350, which is three times more then you will ever have), but the animation is longer. This can be incredibly disruptive, since the knife doesn't actually deal it's damage until the animation finishes.
Slot four:Spy-o-matic Disguise kit
By using the disguise kit you light a cigarette which allows you to briefly assume the identity of any class and either side. If you are disguised you are considered a member of that team. Enemy medics will heal you, enemy dispensers will give you equipment, and enemy teleporters will teleport you. Most importantly, enemy sentry guns will ignore you. When you perform any attack other then planting an electro-sapper, the disguise will end. Choosing a disguise is as simple as pulling out the kit, and then pressing 1-9 for the varying classes. The disguises are generally foolproof, with a few exceptions. These will be discussed later. Finally, if you press B by default you will quick disguise. This will automatically disguise you as your last class, and can even be done while using your InvisioWatch.
Secondary Fire:Spy-o-matic InvisioWatch
When you have any spy equipment active you can press mouse2 in order to use your cloaking watch to become invisible. This is totally foolproof and you will automatically run at full speed while cloaked even if you are disguised as something slow. While invisible you can not be seen at all, with one exception. If you bump into an enemy, you will very shortly become visible, if only slightly. This is frequently long enough to get you killed. Since you are holding the cloak button on the watch, you can not attack or do anything with any other weapon (except quick disguise) while cloaked. As you uncloack, you must wait a split second to use any weapon - usually this isn't quite long enough to get you killed, but not always...
<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Futher Lessons:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=103000&view=findpost&p=1657030" target="_blank">Lessons 1-3: Basic technique</a>
Comments
The beginning section is cleverly done, though. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
<!--quoteo(post=1656629:date=Oct 18 2007, 06:20 PM:name=Redford)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Redford @ Oct 18 2007, 06:20 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1656629"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->While invisible you can not be seen at all, with one exception. If you bump into an enemy, you will very shortly become visible, if only slightly.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Also when you take damage.
one of the biggest mistakes I see novice spies make is trying to 'blend in' with the enemy team for extended periods of time. 'hanging out' with the enemy doesn't offer you any advantages for blending in longer - quite the contrary. every second you spend in enemy territory increases the chance that someone on that team will 'spy check' you and shoot you dead despite the disguise. therefore, it's good to get in fast, but stay focused on your objective and take care of that fast... be it a sentry encampment or a heavy and medic team or an annoying sniper or whatever.
recently I was a spy doing my usual thing. I had stabbed one or two guys and one or two more were now on to me and attacking me as I tried to gut them like Cornish game hens. Meanwhile, as I was flailing/shooting wildly, there was another spy on my team just watching all this, even standing right behind someone shooting at me, and he didn't stab, presumably he didn't want to blow his disguise, which takes literally about 1.5 seconds to reapply. I was displeased. =p
my personal take on what disguises are good:
scout: can be OK in a fast-paced battle, but people will catch on to you moving slowly - especially other scouts when they notice themselves overtaking you. ***
sniper: a spy can't zoom in when disguised as a sniper, and if there's a sniper not zoomed in and not camping somewhere, it is very suspicious and you will usually get shot. especially if you're trying to prey on snipers - you will likely be disguised as them, they will see their name and shoot you. **
soldier/HWguy: not bad disguises, though the speed reduction hurts. if you're trying to catch up to someone to stab them, it's simply not going to happen while disguised as one of these. also remember that every second you spend disguised is another second the enemy might spy-check you, and moving slowly magnifies that. ***
demoman/pyro: my personal favorites. not unusual to see these guys pretty much anywhere, no speed penalty, not unusual to see them not firing their weapons constantly... I will almost always disguise as one of these two. ****
spy: one of the worst choices, IMO. even bad players tend to shoot a spy of either team, because when you see a spy, even if it's your color, your spy check instinct automatically kicks in. Besides, it's VERY odd to see a spy who isn't disguised - so if there's a spy of your color without the little paper mask, kill it. **
engy: a pretty good disguise, though most engineers are usually expected to be camping their little turret farms, so if you see a free-range engy, shooting it is usually a good idea. if you're trying to do some sapping while disguised as an engy, the enemy engy may see your name is his and blast you - but a good engy will usually shoot/wrench anyone who comes close to his territory anyway. Overall, one of the better disguises. ****
medic: even a novice medic should be shooting his medigun pretty much at all times. it uses no ammo and charges uber. therefore, medic spies are among the most suspicious. **
Spy is certainly one of the more dynamic classes out there and I am looking forward to what you have to say in your next post, as I consider myself a fairly experience if not masterful Spy these days.
<!--quoteo(post=1656635:date=Oct 18 2007, 07:04 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DiscoZombie @ Oct 18 2007, 07:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1656635"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->soldier/HWguy: not bad disguises, though the speed reduction hurts. if you're trying to catch up to someone to stab them, it's simply not going to happen while disguised as one of these. also remember that every second you spend disguised is another second the enemy might spy-check you, and moving slowly magnifies that. ***<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Terrible disguise, because neither class is often seen going back inside the base, and are also shooting most of the time, which a spy can't do. Plus getting anywhere is slow. *
<!--quoteo(post=1656635:date=Oct 18 2007, 07:04 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DiscoZombie @ Oct 18 2007, 07:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1656635"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->demoman/pyro: my personal favorites. not unusual to see these guys pretty much anywhere, no speed penalty, not unusual to see them not firing their weapons constantly... I will almost always disguise as one of these two. ****<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Agreed mostly, but be careful with Pyro since people so rarely play as them. I've shot many spies who disguised as a pyro when we don't have any on the team.
Agreed on the rest. Of course, it all depends on context. You don't head towards the intelligence room as a sniper, for example.
You sir, are doing it <i>wrong</i>. You should NEVER be seen heading towards the enemy base regardless of your disguise. You get as close to the fight as you can, cloak and run (carefully) through their battle line. Then find a nice cubby hole where no-one will see you de-cloak and run back towards their line, this time with a nice array of enemy spines facing you. Or thats how I do it at least. If I really have to approach the enemy base in disguise for whatever reason, i'll do it by running backwards (facing "the enemy") and shouting "Medic!" so that I at least have an excuse to be retreating.
I quite often disguise myself as a soldier purely because they're a pretty common class, so I won't draw too much attention to myself unless an enemy soldier notices his own name appear when he looks at me. Yeah they're slow, but that just means no-one is expecting you to disguise yourself as one.
The value of using the HWguy as a disguise lies purely in the fact that its a really dumb disguise. No-one suspects the heavy guy, and that works in your favor. Several times i've gotten an enemy medic to follow me, depriving the rest of the team of healing, and stabbing the medic in the back the moment they look away. Bear in mind the moment you let off your backstab, your disguise lifts and you're free to make good your escape.
Also, when approaching said battle line, I usually disguise myself as something else from my own team ("-" toggles disguise colour), generally a pyro or demoman because they're as fast as a spy. If the enemy sees a spy approaching their line, they WILL become more suspicious. You're not trying to fool them into thinking you're not the spy... you're trying to fool them into thinking there <i>are no enemy spies.</i> This is why I never go spy unless i'm the only one doing so, or i'm in a big game and know the other spy is competant.
Oh, and you CAN use your Spy-o-maticâ„¢ Disguise kit while cloaked btw.
I never underestimate the stupidity of my enemies, so I pay attention to anyone that is acting out of the ordinary regardless of class. Usually shoot at them, too, see if they fly into the air.
I find it pointless to try and play mindgames beyond the immediately important and rewarding ones, since there's always someone who'll shoot in my direction just for kicks if I hang around for too long, regardless of spy-awareness.
And I know you can keep disguising when cloaked, Redford said as much. I asked if the usual smoke showed up around you.
Bad classes to disguise as:
-Scout (you are a slow scout <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />)
-Medic (people will search for you and shoot you if you dont heal them)
-Engi (Engi on the way to buildings with his shotty out <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" /> =instant death)
-Spy (just retarded, because a spy without a mask =instant death)
Good classes to disguise as:
-Soldier
-Heavy (heavy is most likely the best, because people think that it would be retarded cause of the low speed so they dont expect it. They also dont care when you fall behind them. Heavies also walk alot without shooting their weapons)
-Pyro (Good speed and has reason to be on offy and on deffy)
-Demoman (Doesnt randomly shoot everything and plays offy and deffy)
-Sniper (Is ok, but dont hang out too long, cause people will get suspecious when you dont raise your rifle)
Also: On maps like dustbowl and gravelpit: Try going for the enemy teams teleporter entrances. There are usually 3-4 just outside their spawn.
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Spies are pretty good for overrun tactics.
get 2-3 spies to walk past the first cap to the second on dustbowl and then push for the first cap. You will more or less insta win.
Also: USE YOUR BRAIN. This is both true for the spy and people who want to catch spies. 5 Players standing on the cap, but it only shows capping at 4x speed? Medic is healing no one? Sniper never raises his rifle? Slow scout? Someone has your name? Do you have a [insert class] on your team? 3 enigs, but the scoreboard shows only 2? Teammate jumping over your own sentries? Player is standing idle in a corner? Enemy team ignoring one of your teammates? etc etc etc
I think this is personal opinion, but I really hate all the pompous introduction bits in these kinds of guides. They're the type of things I expect from gamefaq.com walkthroughs written by teen peeps with huge ASCII titles.
When you get into the meat of the role of the spy, don't forget to mention cloaking mid-combat. It does take time to kick in fully, but it's useful if you can time it to losing line of sight to your opponent for a split second.
I think you'll do well to cover all points of a spy- he's easily the most versatile class. Shockwave and myself are both good spys but we have totally different play styles. His frags are all backstabs, mine are all revolver.
I did learn from your guide that disguised spys can use enemy portals. Didn't know that.
Yeah, i'm generally more of a front-line spy. The guys at the back of the pack are waaaay too jumpy to be worth trying to pick on.
I think you're confusing "pompous" with "awesome." and "teen peeps with huge ASCII titles" with "amazing person like Redford."
Always fire a round off in your revolver before battles. if your backing up, disgised someone sees you they look like they are about to point their gun at you hit reload they will see you doing the reload animation and their sub consious will disreguard any further cheacking beliving you were just fireing your gun and are retreiting for a short period.
I must support the enamy spy disgise here if useing B offtan enough or stleath it lets you get around in plain sight, usualy there is to much going to cheack if hes wearing a mask most people are jsut thank full the yhave a spy there with them about to infiltrate and usualy let you thru, i have a few times camped out side our own breif case room with a enamy scout for 5 minutes waiting for more to come, no one else came or more came, but evently he full droped his guard to a enamy spy with out a mask cos he knew the engineers in that room wouldnt let any one in so iam standing there with him emoteing till i stabed him. all i am saying is it has its uses.
I am more concerned with not how many people are suspcious of me, but more so how many players just belived me to be a allie, breetching a good team usualy means other good players in the back lines seeing you will think nothing of it. its only then am i worried about the noob who shoots any thing.
Sudden death is also the one time where all of a sudden you aren't in any hurry any more. If you stab someone they are gone for good, you're not racing against a 10 second respawn timer. Also, hide as some obscure class, backstab, instacloak, and run back to your base for healing. It's really hard to finish a full health spy who disappears just as you start shooting at him for pretty much every class but pyro. A good spy is more likely to get a kill than a death against an average TF team right now, this isn't really true for any other class in the same way. If you make that one kill a medic or heavy... in sudden death you've just dealt your enemy a HUGE blow.
Keep an eye out for their pyro and get ready to move in case he appears. Pyros often forget about their shotgun and will run at you to spy check. Keep out of their range but do not give up your disguise until you can make a quick attack at the front lines, then ditch everything and return to base. Usually pyros will not be able to warn the rest of the team that you are in fact, a spy.
After a high value enemy runs past to the front lines such as a heavy+medic combo, wait till they go past, check if anyone is coming and then follow them. Backstab both and get back in the enemy base.
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If you run into an enemy with the same name as you and the rest of their team is present, accuse THEM of being a spy and pretend to be chasing them. Slip out in the confusion before they work out what happened.
That works? Wow. That's actually a really really good idea.
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I think the Spy was the last class I tried in TF2 because I found the Spy in TFC boring as hell and more of an annoyance than a useful and potent class. In TFC all his abilities apart from backstab and his frag nades were ######ing clownshoes: make this player dizzy (woo!), make this player have hallucinations (aah!), pretend to die (plsdonthurtme.). So, yeah, in TF2 I was really impressed when I tried him out and found out I could cause a ######storm of chaos and laugh hysterically while I watch the other team bumbling about looking for me. It is the most versatile class by far, and possibly the most enjoyable, but not the most powerful.
I try not to have a set plan of action. I wouldn't describe myself as an amazing Spy, but I have a lot of fun playing him. My general goal is to piss the other team off, get them flustered so they're not operating at 100%. The more pissed off they are, the more mistakes, the more paranoia, the more they are distracted from the job at hand. As far as this goal is concerned, I think half of playing a good Spy is thinking on your feet and being adaptive, and the other half is taking the other team by surprise.
For example, one of my favourite tricks is attacking or defending CP #2 in stage 2 of Dustbowl. There's a wodden pallette lying against a wall that you can jump on top of and get up to the upper level. This shortcut means you save a lot of cloaking time and you avoid the hotspots where you might get winged by a stray bullet and come out of cloak. Other classes have enough speed to make the jump, but it's particularly effective for the Spy.
As for what classes to pick, there are a few that are particularly effective because they can afford to spend time not shooting and just waiting. But I think maybe the best tip I can give is to spend some time playing as the other classes so you know what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable behaviour. This class is all about mimickery.
A Demoman on defense often lingers around doorways where the other team (your team) will be coming.
A defending Pyro can afford to be seen simply camping out a control point. While you're disguised you're not capping, sure, but you can be sitting there relaying information to your teammates, helping time attacks, and also taking out any key players you see go by (I usually go for Medics, good Snipers, Heavies, good Soldiers, and maybe an Engy if he's alone with his gun).
A defending Soldier not shooting can be done, you just have to mimick his behaviour. A Soldier typically never stands still, he's always looking at angles and marking the entrances. Flick your crosshair between where the attackers could be coming from, and also jump a lot (Soldiers do this to help them hit the floor and have a higher chance of hitting a target with splash damage).
Defending Snipers aren't always zoomed in, but you do need to sidestep left and right a lot, like a Sniper would. I generally don't do this for too long because it becomes very obvious quickly, but you can do it while you're waiting for your cloak to partially refill.
Engies... I rarely impersonate. Having played Engy a LOT, I shoot all Engies on sight as a natural defense mechanism. The only way to get away with it is if you watch the Engy run away from his gun to get more metal, that gives you a short amount of time to get in there and total his gun. But should you need to redisguise as an Engy to do that? Not really.
But I will use every class (except maybe the Spy) at least once in an average round. I'd rather have redisguised from a Demo to an Engy when the other team is putting the word out that "DEMO IS SPY!", even if only to get me to the nearest medpack.
In general I always use cloak to go forward, and approach in disguise from behind. But when I do need to retreat as a class for whatever reason, I mimick. I always try to get into cover as quickly as possible (cover from my own team, that is). If I'm a Soldier I jump backwards with my crosshair at the enemy (my team). If I'm a Sniper I just plain run. Then, as soon as I'm in cover I redisguise and cloak to appear somewhere completely different moment later.
Lastly, water is a great exit route. It hides your cloak very effectively.
This is only if I am not enjoying being spy myself. I once got a medic to unleash uber on me while pretending to be a heavy. But that was more luck then skill since I generally suck at being spy. backstab, stealth, redisguise and if that don't work I die a lot <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
I have seen Kouji San nametag a lot and when I kill the spy they nag me for cheating. I mean WTH I didn't design that nametag part of the game :/
Kill streaks as soldier is pretty crazy, you get a crit like every 4th shot.
I hate spies, even when I face them and shoot them as they run at me they use their butterfly knife and insta kill backstabs me IN MY FACE, it has happened so many times I actually fear chasing spies alone.
Has the pyro been nerfed again? It feels like burning people at point blank takes forever even on a demoman.
pyro seems pretty hit-and-miss, literally... sometimes I'll bathe someone in flame and nothing will happen, sometimes I can just graze them from 10 feet away and they'll catch on fire.
the trick of reloading while disguised sounds awesome. I'm going to have to try that.
and
<img src="http://www.threepanelsoul.com/images/rants/20071019_myspray.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Totally NOT a spy!
Honest!
and
<a href="http://www.threepanelsoul.com/images/rants/20071019_myspray.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.threepanelsoul.com/images/rants...019_myspray.jpg</a>
Totally NOT a spy!
Honest!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The comic captured the TF2 graphics perfectly, just wonderful.
My question: What does this look like to the opposing team?
My question: What does this look like to the opposing team?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If you are on the BLU team the enemy team will see a blue [insert subjects choosen disguise here].
If you are on the RED team the enemy team will see a red [insert subjects choosen disguise here].